Some fish turn into goals you measure seasons against. For Kieran Hoffman, the chase for a true double-digit largemouth had followed him for years. He’d come close, but never on the fly, and after more than a decade of casting and learning, it started to feel less like a dream and more like unfinished business.
“So, I started fishing for myself around 12 years old. My first love was bass fishing as I always woke up Saturday mornings and watched the bass master elite series and needed to know that kind of excitement. Once I got around 15 however I started to veer more towards saltwater and then by 20 I was full on hooked with fly fishing. Fast forward 13 years later and I’ve been on the hunt for that elusive double digit fish. I have caught one or two on spinning gear I thought were very close but never with a scale in the boat.
I was made aware of Tyler Woolcott and his ability to put mega bass in the boat consistently. I decided to reach out to him and we set a day and time to go try. Initially planned on just a conventional gear trip but once he told me the tactics we would be using I had a thought. Let me bring my 11 wt set up with intermediate line and see if I can get this fly in front of a big one!
So on about our 3rd or 4th attempt at a big fish we finally had one that was hot. After having the fish hit the fly 2 times and failing to come tight we had to change the method. I was stripping instantly on contact but that kept pulling out. The hard part was going to be how do I give the fish a second to swim with it but also have good tension to the fly. Not sure how I managed it but giving the fish that extra half a second on the third bite was the charm!
Once I came tight to her all I felt was line stretch, at that point I knew it was a giant. The line rose up and she breached! We knew she was close. After one really long hard dig she came up for another jump and Tyler was ready for her. Mission accomplished! We weighed her out at 10 lbs on the scale and released her to fight another day. All in all it was one of the greatest fish of my life. Many set out to get a double digit bass once in their life, for me to get it on fly was just extra icing on the cake.”
Angler Story brought to you by Kieran, be sure to check out instagram HERE, and Tyler’s guide service HERE!
Last Updated on March 10, 2026 by Tripp Nazziola
