Lakeshore Second Cast (for Toman/Giant Snakehead)

I went to Lakeshore this morning to try and catch a Toman or Giant Snakehead (Channa Micropeltes). I got there just a little past 6am and the first light is just starting to appear. As soon as I got out of the car, I hurriedly rigged my rod and reel and fumbled tying on my favorite red head. Tying on a lure without a head light was really challenging.

I decided to start at the Lakeshore office. I had planned to work the edges of the docks. This is where I got my 4kg during my last visit. When I got there, two of Lakeshore's staff were already up and sipping coffee. On my first cast near the launch, the tilapias got spooked. I think something got my lure's attention and when it moved, the tilapias stayed out of sight.

Second cast, a twitch and then a big swirl engulfed my lure. It was fish on. I knew from the first run, it was a biggie. It made a couple more runs but it was no match with a Zillion on carbontex. The fight lasted for about 1 minute. Heavy rod, heavy line, and locked drag paid off. Lip-gripped the Toman (Giant Snakehead) and asked one of the Lakeshore  staff for a photo. We then weighed it using their scale. 5kg on second cast. It was a nice start. The only drawback was that the staff requested that I leave the fish in the aquarium. My last 4kg fish was still there. I sure hope they release them eventually.

Upon inspection of the lure, one of the trebles snapped. It was an Owner stinger #2. I quickly replaced the damaged hook and went on fishing.

No action on topwater for about an hour. I decided to change to a Booyah spinner. When I got to the other end of the pond, I got another toman using the Booyah spinner. Probably 3kg. After a quick photo, I released the fish.

By 10am, I drove around Mexico and then to San Simon to scout for water. No luck as most of the water had dried up. By 11am, I was driving back home.