Andy Guzman, 44, knows sprawling Southern California’s famed Otay Reservoir like the back of his hand, having fished it since age 7. Shortly after daybreak on January 10, he was easing his 18-foot Champion bass boat along an outside edge of water hyacinths, casting for bass with an oversized custom-made 9-inch Hinkle Shad glide bait.
“On my fourth cast near the weeds I spooked a blue heron, which is always a good sign there’s baitfish nearby,” Guzman tells Wired2ish. “Then some baitfish spooked. I made my cast and a fish just slammed it. I really laid into the bass at the strike because I knew it was a good one.”
Guzman says his 7.4-inch Loomis plug rod bent double, as 20-pound test fluorocarbon fishing line drew tight on his Shimano Chronarch reel.
“She came up and sloshed the surface, and I knew I had to muscle her to the boat because of the hyacinths, and there are some rocks on the bottom there,” said Guzman, a Defense Department employee and dedicated bass angler. “I was worried there for a bit about losing my $400 custom-painted Hinkle plug.”
Guzman didn’t have a landing net, as he left at home following a recent duck hunting trip. So, when he drew the bass close to his boat, he grabbed the line, lipped the bass and brought it aboard.
“I knew it was a giant of bass, biggest for me for sure,” he said. “I unhooked it, put it in my boat livewell – then just sat there stunned about what had happened.”
He had an old Rapala scale in his boat that he used to weigh the fish, but had difficulty getting the clamp on the fish’s thick lip.
“I finally got it clipped on, and the scale read 15-pounds, 11-ounces,” Guzman explained. “I said ‘no way’, and I knew I had to get another scale to weigh the bass accurately before I let her go.”
Guzman quickly put the 15-pounder back in his livewell and phoned friend Greg Miller who was fishing nearby. Miller had a new Bubba scale, and Guzman ran his boat to where Miller was fishing to have another scale tally his bass.
Miller’s scale showed Guzman’s fish weighed 15-pounds, 9-ounces.
After making photos of the largemouth, Guzman ran his boat and his bass back to where he caught her. Then he released the fish back into the lake’s 59-degree water.
Guzman immediately was on his phone calling friends and family, and especially his wife Bianca, who insisted Andy go fishing that day when he considered staying home after his alarm clock went off about 5 a.m.
“If she hadn’t nudged me to go, I wouldn’t have caught that bass,” Guzman said. “And not having a net in the boat is now a good omen for me, because the last couple times without a net in the boat I’ve caught giant bass.”
Guzman’s custom-made-and-painted Hinkle lure is a special tackle box item for the California angler. The jointed plug was hand made by famed lure maker Andrew Hinkle, and gifted to Guzman.
The lure was unpainted, and Guzman sent it to the “Little River Lure Lady” in South Carolina.
“I sent it to Zena [who is the ‘Little River Lure Lady’], along with photos of the shad that bass eat on Otay,” Guzman reported. “She perfectly painted that plug to match the hatch on the lake.”
Guzman said when the painted Hinkle plug was sent back to him from Zena she included a note hoping he would catch a world record with it.
“My bass isn’t a world record, but it’s best one I’ve ever caught,” Guzman said. “it will always be a special lure for me, thanks to Hinkle and Zena.”
