It’s a theological maneuver that a lot of tournament anglers turn to in the last moments before stowing the rods and running to weigh-in. And for Toledo Bend guide and Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Open angler Darold Gleason, this time, his silent request for divine assistance got answered in a big way. Like 11 pounds and 3 ounces worth.
“It was the last cast, it was 3:19 p.m., I had a 3:30 weigh-in time, and I was literally saying a prayer with my eyes closed when I felt the bite,” admitted Gleason, a schoolteacher, who recently began a business he calls South Toledo Bend Guide Service.
Gleason and partner Kevin Jeane were competing in a Fishers of Men team tournament on Saturday when the Toledo Bend ‘toad’ bit. They finished in fifth place. He caught it using a 3/4-ounce brown/purple V & M Cliff Pace Pacemaker Flatline football jig; tipped with a color matched V & M Swamp Hog trailer.
Gleason will receive a free fiberglass replica mount courtesy of the highly admirable Toledo Bend Lunker Bass Program that rewards anglers who catch bass 10 pounds or larger from Toledo Bend and release them alive.
The Bassmaster Elite Series returns to Toledo Bend on May 1. When they were there last in June 2012, Terry “Big Show” Scroggins won the Carhartt Big Bass award of the tournament with a 9-pound, 3-ounce beast he landed on spinning tackle and light line.
