Hindman popped the hook out of its mouth and then placed the 26-inch fish into his 18-inch livewell and was able to make it back to the weigh-in with the fish in good health. Ron Hindman of Slidell caught this 11.376-pound trophy bass fishing the West Pearl River on Jan. “I couldn’t believe how heavy this thing was,” he said.

Hindman worked his way out of the cut then down the main river and found another trenasse with lots of structure. He whipped his spinnerbait deeper into the cut and his luck started to change. “It was stained but clear enough to fish.” “The water looked nice back there,” he said. He continued to fish the drains and found one that he was able to slip his boat into. He started hitting drains and picked up two throwback bass with a ¼-ounce white and lime green spinnerbait. He ran through Miller’s Ditch into the West Pearl, which was awfully muddy, he said, but Hindman knew he could find cleaner water coming out of a few drains in the swamp. “I have a flatboat, so I usually pull on the side and let the bass boats go past, then I follow behind,” the 65-year-old said. Hindman started his morning like any other with no thoughts of catching that big of a lunker. The club gathers every Tuesday at the East Pearl River launch on Highway 190, locally referred to as “The Green Bridge.” Hindman is a member of the Double Nickel Bass Club, an organization of anglers who are 55 years of age or older.

Trophy bass game online free