Gary Dobyns' Best Black Bass Memories

By David A. Brown

When it comes to bass species, Gary Dobyns said the preference is black and white; or, perhaps, black and striped. For him, it’s less about size potential, as it is about the sheer sport.

Before moving to Texas in 2007, Dobyns spent 58 years in California where striped bass shared many of the Golden State waters with largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass — the black bass clan’s tournament trio. He’s caught plenty of each species and, while stripers are no joke, Dobyns will gladly take the black bass clan any day of the week.

“The thing that makes black bass so intriguing — there are so many techniques; so many ways to catch them,” Dobyns said. “Stripers are so straightforward. You might get a topwater bite, or you might get them on a hair jig; but striper fishing is very, very simple.

“Black bass fishing is so much more diverse, with so many more challenges. Honestly, they’re tougher to catch than a striper.”

Incredible experiences have been many, but Dobyns recently sifted through the mental files and pulled out a few of his favorite black bass fishing trips.

SPOTTED BASS

While he lacks not for individual memories, some of Dobyns’ top moments involve his son Richard. One in particular took place several years ago on Bullards Bar, the Northern California reservoir known for giant spots that reach enormous proportions on a diet largely based on stocked Kokanee.

Father and son were fishing a shallow point when Richard cast a nail-weighted green pumpkin 5-inch Senko into about 6 feet of water. His bait landed near a stump and almost immediately, the line tightened with what Gary described as the biggest spot he’d ever seen.

“He fought it and fought it and fought it and got it up to the boat and I tried to grab it, but I couldn’t get my hands around its back,” Dobyns said. “We were fun fishing, so we didn’t have a net. He’d get the fish to the boat and it would take off.

“This fish took us out into deep water and we finally landed it. The fish was 10.46 pounds. It (would have been) the world record at the time, but Richard just wanted to take some pictures and turn it loose. It was incredible to see a fish that dang big and to watch my son catch it.”

Dobyns said the right setup for this scenario is a Dobyns DX 743 spinning rod with 8-pound Seaguar InvisX fluorocarbon, a Gamakatsu Split Shot-Dropshot hook and a 3/32-ounce nail weight. Some top a spool of braid with a long fluoro leader, but Dobyns finds his Senkos descend better on straight fluorocarbon.

“When those big spots go to feeding on Bullards, they get so shallow,” Dobyns said. “The lake has changed over the years, because those fish have gotten (fished heavily), but we pulled up on a point that day and literally caught three 8-pound-plus fish on consecutive casts.

“Those fish will suspend off those points in 200-300 feet of water and then slide up to feed. A lot of times, we’ll start way off those points with topwaters, lipless baits or spinnerbaits to work our way in shallow and then we’ll go to a nail-weighted Senko. Between my son and me, we’ve caught 100 spots over 7 pounds on a nail-weighted Senko.”

LARGEMOUTH

Recalling a tournament win on Clear Lake, Dobyns said the event did not begin as he would have hoped. In fact, the first day’s slick calm conditions had the fish he’d seen in practice unwilling to cooperate.

A tough first day found Dobyns and his partner abandoning their reaction baits and scratching up a 17-pound limit by fishing 5-inch Senkos and a Texas-rigged Kuttail Worms on Dobyns DC 704 CB casting outfits with 10-pound fluorocarbon. If you know Clear Lake, you know 17 pounds won’t cut it — and Gary Dobyns knows Clear Lake.

“It was a winner-take-all event and several (teams) had over 25,” he said. "I was toast. I just wanted the tournament to be over.”

Making matters worse, Dobyns got so engaged in dock talk that he missed his takeoff number and had to go out last. Starting his day with a double dose of the bummers, Dobyns got a little bump of encouragement from his partner, who said:

“If anyone can come back, it’s you.”

Taking this to heart, Dobyns broke out the jerkbaits to take advantage of the day’s sporty winds and the fish responded in grand form. Dobyns’ first fish was a 4-pounder. He followed that with a 7 and then came the game changer — one that nearly hit 12 pounds and gave Dobyns a run for his money.

“That was the meanest fish I’ve every caught,” Dobyns said. “I hooked it in a creek and ran from one side to the other. I finally got it in the boat and I said ‘One more like that and it’s gong to get interesting.’”

Well, things did get interesting. Dobyns’ partner hooked into an estimated 10-pounder, but in the hasty fight, he gave the fish a moment of slack and the largemouth wasted no time in shaking the hook.

Fortunately, fate offered redemption and Dobyns’ partner stuck another giant. Following the advice of “Lean into him,” the angler wrestled the 10 1/2-pounder to the boat and helped propel the team to a commanding win with a 9-pound margin of victory.

While all of their Day 2 fish ate jerkbaits, Dobyns recognizes the applicability of a timeless angling axiom: You can’t win on Day 1, but you can certainly lose.

“The only reason we were in contention was that we fell back to that Senko and Kut Tail; that kept us in the game,” Dobyns said. “You can always catch fish on those baits. They kept us in the tournament so we could win.”

SMALLMOUTH BASS

Noting that this was one of those days he wishes he could’ve had during a tournament; Dobyns still values the experience he had on an upper pool of the Columbia River. Fishing a secluded area outside the off-limits area of an upcoming tournament, Dobyns caught a pile of brownies with 11 over 5 pounds. Best part about it was he saw only two other boats the entire day.

“That was the best smallmouth fishing day I’ve ever had in my life,” Dobyns said. “The biggest one was almost 7 and I can’t even tell you how many 3- and 4-pounders I caught. It was a day you dream of.”

Basking in the area’s natural splendor and solitude, Dobyns targeted steeper rock banks where fish were suspending on the sides and relating to big river rocks. Armed with a Dobyns DX 743 SF spinning outfit with 8 pound Seaguar InvizX fluorocarbon, he caught his fish by swimming a Yamamoto salt and pepper grub on a homemade 1/4-ounce dart head parallel to the bank and dragging a Yamamoto tube with a 1/4-ounce weight through the shallower spots.

“On the steeper stuff, I was fishing the grub and paralleling the bank like a crankbait in 10-12 feet,” Dobyns said. “Whenever it would shallow up, I’d pick up the tube.”

Pointing out the keys to his success, Dobyns said: “They were pulling water, so there was some good current and that position those fish. Anytime I’d hit a flat, the way that current was coming around, I could call my fish.

“That was a day I’ll always remember because I will never catch 11 smallmouth over 5 pounds in a day again in my life. It was absolutely incredible. I didn’t even want to fish the tournament; I just wanted to stay up there.”