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When Anderson Nicholas headed out with his father to fish a nearby private pond in January, the 8-year-old boldly told his dad that he (Anderson) was gonna catch a monster fish.

The Sumrall second-grader's prediction came true, too, when he used a black and yellow beetle spin to nab a whopping 8-pound, 4-ounce bass.

“He told me he was going to catch a monster because he had been watching a show on Netflix that morning called 'Chasing Monsters',” his father, Aaron, said. “The funny part was that we only caught one fish each, and mine was close to five pounds, a nice fish.”

That being the case, the 8-year-old's fish outweighed his father's by three pounds, so the youngster felt compelled to console his father: “It's okay, Dad. One day you will catch a monster like me.”

That tells me Anderson Nicholas is already showing signs of a true bass angler — prowess, compassion, sense of humor and, quite possibly, a little bit of rubbing it in. Too bad the Sumrall High School fishing team will have to wait so long for this lad.

Regardless, congrats are in order to Anderson on such a fine catch. Oh, and thanks to his dad Aaron for … taking him fishing.

Big bait, big fish

You can listen to the “pros” that tell you if you want to catch big fish consistently, you gotta use big bait. But don't tell that to Anderson Nicholas, or me, for that matter.

While it may be true that you'll catch more big fish on big bait, that could simply be because smaller fish can't swallow monster-size baits. Frankly, I've caught my biggest (and most) bass on small beetle spins and tiny torpedoes (small or tiny, as the name implies).

To each his own, however. But if you've had little or no luck using monster-sized lures, you might try downsizing a bit, especially this time of year. If you're not catching fish, what have you got to lose? Just a thought!