Garrett Paloncy Catches a Big One

Garrett Paloncy

Over the years, Garrett Paloncy has developed a deep and abiding love of the sport of fishing. He enjoys the idea of spending time in nature, listening to the water and the birds, and he enjoys the ability to just spend time with his thoughts when he's surrounded by beautiful scenery. That's not to say, however, that Garrett Paloncy doesn't take his fishing quite seriously. In fact, the opposite is true. Garrett Paloncy is a competitive person, and he takes this competitive spirit with him when he goes fishing.

Garrett Paloncy & Fishing

Like most serious bass fishermen, Garrett Paloncy is always looking for the next big fish. Bass can grow to incredible sizes over the years, and many communities hold competitions to urge people to find and capture these monsters. In April of 2009, Garrett Paloncy won a competition like this. He landed a bass weighing 4 pounds, 8 ounces and measuring 20 inches long and 16 inches wide. This was the largest bass caught in the state that year.

Catching a fish this big takes a bit of time and patience. Large bass are often older, and this means they've probably been caught before. People fishing for fun often catch fish, remove the hooks and then toss the fish back in the water. The older the fish is, the more likely the fish has experienced this at least once, Garrett Paloncy says. In order to catch these experienced fish, Garrett Paloncy must use unique bait and he must have excellent casting technique to fool the fish into biting.

Bass also like to put up a tremendous fight when they're being pulled to the surface, and large fish can be a particular challenge to bring in successfully. While a 4-pound fish might not seem heavy, a fish like this that is pulling one way and another and jumping up and diving down can put a huge amount of pressure on the angler's arms and wrists. Thankfully, Garrett Paloncy is in good shape or else he would never have been able to pull this fish in properly.

Garrett Paloncy continues to fish on a regular basis, and he hopes to find another monster fish to fight with in the near future. Winning another award would be a thrill for Garrett Paloncy, of course, but he also enjoyed the challenge of finding the fish and winning it over. He hopes to experience this again soon.