Size matters in fishing. Anglers sometimes deny this, but it’s the truth. Everyone wants to catch a big fish. And the bigger the better.
Size is also relative in fishing. Talk to any angler long enough and he or she eventually will mention their personal best—with best being a synonym for biggest—fish. Whatever the species, everyone remembers their best/biggest fish.
The magic of this hinges on the mystery of the unknown; the promise of possibility. Maybe this is one of the reasons why we fish. Your best fish—regardless whether it was caught a half-hour or half a century ago—might be eclipsed on your next cast.
Every bass fisherman in America knows the story of George Perry, and most know the tale of David L. Hayes.
Perry was a 20-year-old farmer fishing for his family’s supper in a south Georgia oxbow lake on the afternoon of June 2, 1932, when he landed a 22-pound, 4-ounce largemouth bass. That fish eventually did serve as supper for the Perry family, but it also was recognized as the all tackle world record largemouth and, ultimately, became the Holy Grail of freshwater fishing. The fish and Perry became wrapped in legend. Then, more than seven decades later, on July 2, 2009, Manabu Kurita hauled in a 22-pound, 5-ounce largemouth from Japan’s Lake Biwa. This accomplishment was not met with universal angling glee. A quirk in the record book rules requires that a record catch under 25 pounds must be bested by at least 2 ounces to hold the mark, so in official quarters, Kurita’s catch is tied with Perry’s mark. Not everyone was disappointed with this absurd decision. More than a few bass fishermen have grappled with Perry’s bass being bested.
On July 9, 1955, Hayes, a native of Leitchfield and an experienced angler, hauled in an 11-pound, 15-ounce smallmouth bass from the Kentucky waters of Dale Hollow Lake, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers impoundment that spills into Kentucky and Tennessee. It was the largest smallmouth bass Hayes had ever seen and was soon determined to be the largest one anyone had ever seen. It was certified a world record and remained so for four decades, until a ridiculous controversy blossomed. The Hayes fish was stricken from some record books, then reinstated. Both Kentucky and Tennessee again recognize the Hayes’ fish as being atop the smallmouth bass heap.
Mark Ward likely won’t face the scrutiny that befell Kurita and Hayes. At least, I hope he doesn’t.
Ward, of Evarts, put himself into the Kentucky angling record books when, in April, he caught a 14-pound, 9.5-ounce largemouth bass from Highsplint Lake in Harlan County. The previous state largemouth mark was 13 pounds, 10 ounces and had stood since 1984.
This is an astounding accomplishment. Most Kentuckians fish a lifetime and never catch a double-digit (10 pounds or larger) bass. They are extremely rare.
Many anglers, including state fishery officials, had predicted, or guessed, that the next state record bass would have come from one of the state’s landmark bass factory reservoirs: Kentucky, Barkley, Green or Cumberland. (The 1984 fish had come from Wood Creek Lake in Laurel County.)
Highsplint Lake is little more than a pond, flooding about 6 acres. It wasn’t listed in this year’s version of the popular Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife’s annual fishing forecast fw.ky.gov/Fish/Documents/CurrentFishingForecast.pdf. You can bet it will be included in next year’s forecast.
Ward’s story is delightful.
He got off work on April 19—Good Friday afternoon—and with his wife and 9-month-old daughter headed to Highsplint Lake, which is just off State Route 38. It had rained most of the day, and the water was a little muddy. Ward picked up his baitcaster that was spooled with 14-pound test monofilament and tipped it with a 6-inch June bug-colored plastic lizard. He spotted a nice size bass—he estimated a 4-pounder—in the shallows and made a cast, his first of the afternoon. The bass turned toward the bait.
Then something larger appeared.
“Another [bass] came in and looked like a big log,” Ward said. “The 4-pound fish triggered her to pick it up. I set the hook, and it was on.”
When the big bass was brought to hand, it stretched the tape to 26.8 inches, bulged with a 22.5-inch girth, and flashed menacing eyes.
“When I saw it, what first caught my eye were the eyes on that fish were huge,” said Kevin Frey, the biologist who certified the catch as a new state record. “It would look like a shark if you saw it swimming in the water.”
The 24-year-old Ward wasn’t born when the previous state record largemouth was caught. Ward’s record might outlive him, or it might fall tomorrow. That’s the magic of fishing.
Readers may contact Gary Garth at editor@kentuckymonthly.com