Alabama pro Kyle Welcher made a big splash in his Elite Series rookie debut on the St. Johns River in February when he took home Phoenix Boats Big Bass honors for a personal-best 10-pound, 1-ounce largemouth.
For a while on Wednesday, he was in position to win big fish again with a 6-pound bass — and it was one he’d already caught earlier in the week.
“I had a couple of trees marked, and I caught him off one of those trees in practice,” Welcher said. “I actually told my wife, ‘I wish I hadn’t caught that fish.’”
But then the big bass paid Welcher another visit.
“I went back to the same trees and it bit again,” he said. “No doubt it was the same fish — same markings and everything. I caught it on the same exact bait, except this bait was a new one and the other one was raggedy.
“It’s crazy. I’ve never had that happen.”
Considering the bass was brought to the weigh-in at Lakepoint State Park and then dispersed via live-release boat back into the lake, it’s unlikely Welcher will catch it again today.
But hey, you never know.