What setup were you using?

     Kistler 7'6" XH rod, Lews Tournament Pro Reel, Seaguar Kanzen 60lb braid, Umbrella rig with 4" shad color swim baits

How'd you bring it to the scales?

     It was in the tournament so I couldn't really mess with it.  There was a Bassmaster Elite series angler, Keith Poche pre-fishing for a tournament. He saw me catch it and he came over.  I was gonna throw it back but it was such a big special fish, he volunteered to have it weighed.  TWRA (Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency) was called to the weigh in site and Keith brought it up to stage where it was measured and weighed by the TWRA.  It turned out to be a Lake Record.

How long was the fight?

     It was a lot longer than I wanted it to be.  I had an hour to go for the day and only 4 fish in the livewell.  I had 60lb braid and a wired bait and you can only deal with a 52lb creature in it's own habitat, when it has it's own agenda as best you can.  It took around ten minutes with me horsing it as best as I could.

How deep were you fishing?

     I was fishing in 5 to 8 feet of water on a rocky point.  Within the first 2 cranks of my reel handle it nailed it, it was singing my line, I couldn't turn it.  I knew it was something of a beastly type manner.

Is this the biggest fish you've caught?

     I probably caught some catfish commercial fishing with Granddad, but this was probably the biggest on a rod and reel.

     I also caught one on Lake Lanier during a PAA event that some people said might have been a lake record also.

Lake Lanier Striper

What happened to the fish?

     Normally I would have just thrown it back, but it was such a special fish and nobody would have gotten to see it.  When Keith made his gracious offer to bring it to the scales, I took him up on his offer., as we were close to the weigh in area.  The fish was put in Oxygen and properly handled but unfortunately, the fish didn't make it.   There was a young man there who was having a wild game dinner the following night.  He was out of fish and felt like he didn't have enough fish for the event.  He asked if he could have the fish so I gave it to him so he could feed more people at his event.

     I believe in protecting our resources and practicing good conservation. However good conservation doesn't always mean throwing fish back....I was raised on wild game!

 Special thanks to Keith for getting it in, so everyone could see it.  Had it not been for him, nobody would have gotten to see it.