Ocoee angler reels in 11-pound bass

OCOEE  When Mike Iglesias cast his line — equipped with an artificial frog lure — into Prairie Lake during a recent December sunset, he didn’t expect to put up a fight with a bass for 10 minutes.

And he certainly didn’t expect it to be a nearly 11-pound trophy catch — his personal best.

But that’s exactly the situation that Iglesias, an Ocoee resident, was in Dec. 2, 2017, as he worked to reel in a largemouth bass.

“(There was) one large strike at the frog, and the bass missed it,” Iglesias said. “I threw it back and saw the huge monster head come out of the water, with one big black eye like a marble, and it inhaled the frog and went back down. When I pulled back on that rod, it just bent down all the way to the water. It was the biggest fish I ever hooked.”

Iglesias, who also goes by “Captain Mike” and has a YouTube channel called The Angry Bass, was out that evening to fish in the low-light conditions. It’s one of the best times to fish top water, he said, because fish can’t see the bait as well.

He eyed a spot on the north shore of the lake, which was being occupied by another fisherman. After the other man gave up on the spot, Iglesias walked over and cast his line 40 yards out into open water, between two lily pads.

It wasn’t much longer until the bass struck and he got to spend 10 minutes fishing to bring it in.

“You don’t know how big they are and to get to feel that fight,” he said. “It was an amazing adrenaline rush, to say the least. … That’s the goal of every bass fisherman, is targeting larger bass. I never had a fish pull that hard and strong. … The most exciting point in my short fishing career is catching a fish that large. … To be able to do that after concentrating (on fishing) in the last three years is incredible.”

He’s previously registered some eight-pound bass he has caught, but this one — weighing in at close to 11 pounds — was truly his biggest trophy catch to date. As per the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission’s catch-and-release program, he documented his catch and released it back into the lake.

Iglesias wasn’t always an angler. He first got into it when his brother-in-law introduced him to bass fishing in 1980. He fished sporadically, but the bass were always a mystery to him.

After starting a business and having children, the hobby got away from him until three years ago. That’s when he started watching the pros and studying everything he could to target large bass. He dedicates much of his free time to fishing and perfecting his own techniques at Prairie Lake and Lake Florence.

“Thankfully because of the hurricane, it’s filled these lakes to a higher level of water than I’ve seen in years,” he said. “These bigger fish are easier to target and coming in to the shore for food. It’s been a blessing, actually, to have the higher water levels.”

Eventually, Iglesias would like to start a lure-manufacturing company, get into a boat to fish offshore with live bait and even get into tournament fishing. His new goal is to hit a bass of at least 13 pounds.

But until then, he continues to focus on what he loves — the art of fishing.

“When I get out to the lake, it’s a completely different atmosphere,” he said. “You’re aware of the surroundings, you see, for instance, when fish aren’t biting and see birds swooping down on fish. You use those signals and clues. I enjoy looking for the clues and the peace and quiet that comes with fishing. You see all the variety of wildlife that the lake can sustain, and to me, that’s just amazing.”