Big Fish Alert: 16-Pound Largemouth Bass Caught in California

Lake Wohlford in Escondido, California, is famous for its lunker largemouths: a 19-pounds, 3-ounce fish stands as the local record, with a slew of double-digit bass to add to its renown. But a bass of such high double-digit caliber hasn’t been seen out of the lake in more than 15 years. This past Friday, however, Greg Springer of Vista, California, tossed a 3:16 Lure Company Glide Bait into the waters of Wohlford and knuckled down with a 16.3-pound beast of a bass. 

Springer had seen the bucketmouth on two recent previous fishing trips this month, but was unable to connect. The lake was glass-still on Friday and Springer set up in the same area where he spied the pig before.

“She immediately came up and slapped the bait, but I missed her,” Springer told SDfish.com. 

Calm conditions most likely let the big bass get a cautious eyeful of the lure, so Springer moved off the area to let the fish simmer for a bit. When the wind switched and picked up creating some surface commotion, he went back.

“When I saw the wind come up in that area, I went back over there and she crushed it on the first cast,” he says.

Even more amazing, Springer wasn’t fishing from a boat, but bested the bass from the shoreline. Out of five bass Springer has caught this year, three have been double-digit fish and no doubt, this 16.3-pound bruiser tops the charts. Check out Springer’s other bass catches on Instagram.

Photographs via Instagram