Eye to Eye with Big Bass: “Let Her Go! She Is Just Another Big Fish!”

By Robert Earl Woodard

This book is about how to catch and grow big bass! Hopefully, as you read, you will learn about techniques and knowledge that can be helpful when you are fishing for big bass. The experience I gained over fifty years of fishing for trophy bass is revealed in this book. The factors that determine movements, behavior, and feeding patterns of bass are discussed to give you a better understanding and knowledge pursuing trophy bass. Tips on building and managing a trophy lake will be explained. This author has been successful in catching big bass in many lakes all over Alabama and growing several trophy bass in his lake. Some of his exciting fishing adventures and stories about his famous pet bass make this a book for all to enjoy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Oct 13, 2017
• ISBN: 9781546213055

Robert Earl Woodard

Robert Earl Woodard was born in Blount County, Alabama, in 1951. There, he experienced the last of the good ole days, being raised on a farm in the South, where living off the land and gathering around the family dinner table for a home-cooked, homegrown meal was the way of life. When he wasn’t picking cotton, plowing a mule, or working in the fields, Earl Woodard spent much of his youth in the woods and on the rivers. After graduating from high school in 1970, he completed his Bachelor’s Degree in 1973 and Master’s Degree in 1976 from Auburn University. He worked as an educator for thirty-eight years, teaching physical education, as well as many years spent coaching football, basketball, and track. He has a lifelong passion for farming and has worked with cattle and horses for many years. After retiring from education in 2011, he now spends most of his time working on the farm. He also enjoys storytelling, and has now written many of his favorite stories into this book. Robert Earl and his wife Sharon have two children Deanna and Matthew.

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© 2017 Robert Earl Woodard. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 10/13/2017

ISBN: 978-1-5462-1306-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5462-1305-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017915959

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Dedication

I would like to dedicate this book to my wife Sharon Janice Woodard. I want to thank her for always being excited about my bass fishing adventures and for her patience with me being gone for days fishing. She was always proud of me when I had great success in the sport. When I caught the biggest bass of my life, her famous words were, Let her go! She is just another big fish! These are words many fishermen would love to hear. That let me know that I caught so many big bass, I could not impress her anymore. She really just wanted me to release the bass over 16 pounds back into our lake to live her life. She has been assisting me in writing this book, and she is very knowledgeable about the sport of bass fishing, because she has listened in detail of how I caught every big bass, over and over again, so she knows all the stories by heart. I am appreciative to her for all of this and many other things she has helped me with during my life.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank all my family and friends for their support while writing this book. A special thanks to my wife Sharon for her assistance in helping me with my book. I would like to thank my Dad for taking me fishing when I was a boy and teaching me to fish. Thanks to my Mother for cooking many good meals from our fishing adventures. The fish I caught in my younger days were used to put food on the table for family, friends, and neighbors. However, many bass that I caught were released. I am fully dedicated to the catch and release of bass, but taking some fish out of the ponds and lakes are necessary for productive management.

I want to thank my two cousins Ray and Ronnie Beavers for their help and for the many great memories we made fishing together. Thanks to everyone I fished with that taught me something about fishing. Thanks to my friends and family for the great memories and many fun fishing days. I also want to thank everyone that has supported my bass fishing videos.

I am very appreciative of Abbie Turner Wiersma with Presentations Etc. Studio for her assistance. She has been a great cousin and a lot of help to me with my pictures in the book. We worked and played together on the farm growing up and I cherish those memories.

Contents

Introduction:

Eye to Eye with Big Bass: The Beginning.

Childhood Fishing:

Auburn: A New Learning Process about School and Bass Fishing

Better Fishing Equipment:

Fishing Many Lakes:

Fishing Seasons:

Small Lakes and Ponds

Building a Trophy Lake

Pond and Lake Management for Trophy Bass

Animals in the Lake: Bringing my Lake Back

Catching Bass by Hand

Jaws Returns and Regains the Lake Record in March 16, 2017

My Pet Bass

Epilogue

Eye to Eye with Big Bass

Introduction:

Knowledge and experience along with a little luck is the key to catching big bass. Whether it’s catching your biggest bass or just spending a day on the water enjoying the outdoors is why the sport of bass fishing is so exciting. Managing a lake growing bass can be just as rewarding. In this book, I will share some of my adventures and knowledge gained from many hours of fishing and growing largemouth bass. Understanding the behavior of bass is very important if you are trying to catch them. I will discuss many of these behaviors throughout the book. Hopefully, this knowledge can benefit you whether it is trying to catch a trophy or grow one in your lake. The fishing stories should give the reader an understanding of the techniques that worked for me when pursuing the big bass. As the seasons change, so does the technique for catching them. My stories will tell you how to adjust to the changes and how I used this knowledge gained over the years to be successful catching bass. I hope with the knowledge you gain from reading my book it will help you see Eye to Eye with Big Bass and you will enjoy the sport of bass fishing as much as I have. Growing fish can be a learning process and many different strategies can be used. Many decisions are made in managing a lake and each decision can affect its outcome. My book will give you an idea of what has worked for me managing a lake that has produced two bass over 16 pounds and holds larger bass that have not been caught, but we have on video. You will read about my pet bass named Jaws, Kick-n-Bass, and Mega Bass and what they taught me about bass behavior. They are famous and their videos have been viewed millions of times and shared around the world. Growing bass for many years has taught me a lot about bass habitat and feeding patterns. Fishing for over sixty years and studying the behavior of bass for over fifty years has gained me the knowledge and the experience to see eye to eye with big bass. It has been awesome to experience that many times during my fishing adventures.

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My lake.

Eye to Eye with Big Bass: The Beginning.

I was a young boy with a brand new Zebco 202 reel and a pack of plastic worms ready to go bass fishing for the first time. I started on the adventure of a lifetime on a spring day and I did not even realize it. The adventure of bass fishing that would last a lifetime was about to begin. After practicing for a while with my new rod and reel, I was beginning to get the hang of it. With