Young men and big bass: A double down on big largemouth bass in Texas

Nick Lindblad caught a really big largemouth bass on Lake Fork in Texas. | Provided

Time for young men like Nick Lindblad and Kyle Svachula to be catching big largemouth bass in Texas.

Nick Lindblad caught a 7.06-pounder on Dec. 14 on Lake Fork with friend Dennis Bubinas guiding.

Not only is it a big bass, but a celebration of perseverance.

I met Lindblad five years ago while he, then 13, was awaiting a heart transplant at Lurie Children’s.

“Nick got his heart on 8-3-15,’’ his dad Dan texted. “He is doing great and even had the tumor on his spine removed and has learned to walk again.”

Lindblad finished high school and started at Joliet Junior College.

“He is 19 years old and has a whole life ahead of him,” his dad texted.

More on Nick’s journey is at the Facebook page, “Open Your Heart.”

Kyle Svachula with one of the big back-to-back largemouth bass he caught at Welsh Reservoir in Texas.

Kyle Svachula messaged on Saturday from Welsh Reservoir, “Back-to-back casts after my trolling motor cable snapped; fixed it and got a [5-pound largemouth bass] and a 6!”

Svachula, a sophomore studying fisheries at Wisconsin-Stevens Point where he is the vice-president of the fishing team, came out of the Notre Dame College Prep fishing team. This week he was practicing for the FLW college series in the Ozarks.

Kyle Svachula with one of the big back-to-back largemouth bass he caught at Welsh Reservoir in Texas.

FOTW, the celebration of big fish and their stories (the stories matter, as this one shows) around Chicago fishing, runs Wednesdays in the paper Sun-Times. The online posting here at https://chicago.suntimes.com/outdoors goes up at varied days of the week, depending on what is going on the wide world of the outdoors.

To make submissions, email (BowmanOutside@gmail.com) or contact me on Facebook (Dale Bowman), Twitter (@BowmanOutside) or Instagram (@BowmanOutside).