~ ~
Yamamoto Baby Craw Pinches Giant Bass in Spain
Story by GYCB's European Correspondent, Joan Arnal

Guillermo Gomez Proudly Holds Spain's Record Bass

April 8, 2004

Europe's bass anglers do not hear stories very often about whopper bass lurking in his or her waters. There is little big bass history in Europe.

Florida strain largemouth are not present on the Old World continent, and the combined constraints of small waters that are few and far between, therefore heavily-pressured, makes big bass very rare to catch in Europe.

The largest bass on record in Europe came from small clear ponds in France and Italy, and in the warmer climes of Spain and Portugal. But few bass on record ever broke the 9 pound barrier. Breaking that weight seems difficult in Europe.

Yet that was just what Guillermo Gomez, a tackle shop owner from Logroño, Spain, found on the end of his line on April 8, 2004.

It was a big female bass, weighing 9 lbs 1 oz. She appeared obviously ready to spawn.

Guillermo Gomez is a big fan of Yamamoto soft plastics. However, he never expected to land his huge trophy on what he did - a four inch Baby Craw in Watermelon Red color (3S-10-208), Texas rigged with 10 pound test line.

"I’ve always heard that small lures catch only small fish,"  Guillermo said, "but on this day, my partner and I, we caught seven bass over 6 lbs with these bitty Baby Craws. We sure tried bigger lures as well, but that Yamamoto Baby Craw was the real sweet deal for these big monster Spanish bass."

In order to compare the awesome day Guillermo and his partner had, it's worth noting that in most any tournament in Europe, a five pounder is worthy to take the big fish award.

Guillermo's giant bass was caught in the Ebro waters, near Lake Caspe, Spain, the place where Gary and Beverly Yamamoto took big fish honors in the European Classic three years ago.

Guillermo's tackle shop, Planeta Agua (which means Water World) has a huge fish tank with bass, pike and walleye in it. However, he was so worried about the life of his trophy that he decide to release her after a short session of properly weighing and measuring it for the records.

"Having one of the largest bass ever caught in Spain swimming in my tackle shop fish tank would be good for my business," says a proud Guillermo, "but I prefer for her to be swimming back where I caught her from, and where she can spawn this year."

Guillermo adding jokingly, "Who knows? I may catch her again when she weighs 10 pounds!"

From Gary Yamamoto Spain and from everyone who loves bass fishing worldwide, we shout out:

"Congratulations Guillermo on your impressive catch AND release!"