This was caught on a 1/0 clouser, 8wt with full sinking head line. The bass hit it within 2 feet of the surface, so the sink line wasn't even a factor. We weren't seeing any fish on the surface. I laid out my first cast and 3 fish came right up to the fly, but the action wasn't right to get them to eat. So on my second cast this biggin came up out of nowhere. I didn't have time to react to the size because I was more concerned with tricking the fish into eating. It zoomed up underneath, then paused, but I put a few fast strips to the fly that the fish couldn't resist.
While it was fun catching this beast, it was also killer to watch it slowly swim off after I released it.