New World Record Bass

By: Doug Hannon

I had done it so many times before that the consciousness of things was long lost, and my awareness consisted only of sounds and sensations, like the playing of a familiar song. Mounting one foot on the bow and thrusting with the other, I was gliding away from the bank to the sound of the quiet lap of water-on-sheet-metal. A two-step over the middle seat brought me to rest on the rear bench, where the tiller of the trolling motor found my hand, and the 12-foot Jonboat had already seemed to start itself on a silent course parallel to the shoreline. It was one fluid motion that launched what was to be my daily plan for years to come. The plan was simple: If I were to do the right thing, in the right places, for a long enough time, I would encounter the greatest record fish of all time, the largemouth bass. When the event occurred, I would be the one ready and mentally prepared to do everything right.

While there were many, I offer here no wild stories in the form of excuses as to why it did not happen. I simply tell you it did not. Instead, I was endowed with such a sense of closeness to and understanding of the biggest of the big largemouth bass that no record on earth could begin to barter from me.

The current world record emerged from the darkest days of the Great Depression early in the last century. At 69 years old, many see it as forever insurmountable, but I believe that this century will mark the passage to a new world record bass. George Perry's mark, like Roger Bannister's breaking of the 4-minute mile, will never be forgotten, but, because of the many new factors that exist, it will almost certainly be broken. Among these are new resources and improvements in existing resources, genetic and other scientific breakthroughs, and dynamic management priorities rather than single, statewide regulations. Add to this the inevitable increase in public knowledge of the proper techniques, types of lures and presentations, and places to look for record bass, and it becomes a foregone conclusion that by now, if even a miniscule number of such fish existed, one would almost certainly have been caught. I believe we are fast approaching the day when significant numbers of fish of this stature will be swimming in public waters.

For a world record largemouth to be caught it must exist, so I would begin with that premise. Throwing out fraudulent or unverifiable claims it has not been done, so the logical conclusion is that up until today such fish do not exist. It makes more sense then to say that the 22-pound bass caught by Bob Crupi was most probably the biggest largemouth in existence. I completely discount claims to 24-pounders, because, by even elementary statistics, that would require the presence of hundreds of bass in the 22-23 pound range. Yet, by doubling the size of the pre-Florida strain state record, what the catches of Crupi and others do prove is the power that population genetics and the introduction of the Florida genetic strain can have on the eventual size of bass.

The possibility that such bass will exist in the near future is being taken care of as you read this. To sense the winds of change, one need only visit the East Texas hamlet of Athens, where a short distance out of town on a rural highway they will find an imposing set of gates leading to the "Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center." Once inside, you will be confronted with what could aptly be described as the "Area 51 of Bass Research." Besides the magnificent public aquariums, they possess the most prestigious and elaborate hatchery, laboratory and genetic testing facilities I know to have been completely dedicated to determining the makeup and means of creating the largest bass on the planet.

According to Allen Forshage, TTFC director, their idea is to approach the problem from both ends. Texas has for years had the ShareLunker program, which allows lucky anglers to submit their catches of over 13 pounds to the program to be captively bred and released a year later. The problem is that it has been impossible determine what environmental factors had a hand in the production of these bass, and many of the submissions were not in good enough condition to survive and breed in the program. By not just looking at top end genetics and selectively breeding for initial fast growth, Texas is in a position to study the effects of genetics exclusive of the environment and set a new standard. Once fish are hatched, the growth rates are so fast that it is easy to select the fastest growing few from millions of fry. These can be separated, and the fastest growing among them selected, ad infinitum.

If these fish were put in public water with an existing bass population, the genetic traits would quickly dissipate, and there is no way enough money could be found to raise millions of them to adult size in hatchery facilities. Texas found an opportunity in that it does permit hundreds of new lakes to be impounded on private property for cattle watering and irrigation. These lakes start out fishless, so many owners agree to have them designated "contract lakes," stocked and managed to assess specific genetic stains of bass. For the first time we have the potential to study different gene profiles in a real lake environment and make better predictions as to how these bass would do stocked in the wild.

Back in the '70's, Echo Lake was just such a "contract lake" for evaluating the viability of the Florida strain in Texas water. Here a man named John Alexander broke the longstanding Texas state record, not once, but twice in one year. It is no longer a question of whether Texas will succeed, but rather when.

As to the type of place that would most likely hold the world record, I believe that in a completely natural environment, free of any influence from man, that a riverine system has the highest odds. In order for fish to grow to record size, conditions have to remain ideal 12 months a year for all the years of their lives. A river is more stable, with a mixing of water and the constant motion of current. Unfortunately, most rivers, especially in the South, have been spoiled. A lake like Champlain or the 1000 Islands area of the St. Lawrence River would be ideal, if they existed at warmer latitudes.

In the future the scales will tip toward mid to small sized reservoirs like Lake Fork, which at 28,000 acres, is dwarfed by sister lakes like 181,000 acre Toledo Bend. The larger lakes can be threatened by stagnation and even extensive fish kills. The smaller lakes are proportionately more affected by the mixing influence of the river input, while still providing a large settling area and extensive weed growth to absorb nutrients, clarify and filter the water. The high nutrient levels in the water supports a huge biomass of open-water baitfish, like threadfin shad. When plenty of deep-water cover is available, usually in the form of flooded old growth timber on the flats and points leading to the main channel, the mix is complete. Bass can move out on this structure and intercept a virtually limitless food supply, growing in turn to huge proportions.

Another manmade scenario that comes to mind is the small deep canyon reservoirs of Southern California. Many of these lakes are small and deep, with good water quality providing good oxygen to deep water. Clear mountain streams or even aqueducts are the primary water source for these impoundments. Frequent stocking of rainbow trout for the put-and-take fishery is sufficient in itself to completely gorge the giant bass population. The water quality is stable and excellent, the climate ideal for maximum growth, and the pen-raised trout are not predator-wary and make easy prey for the bass. My experience with captive bass has shown me that, when a bass gorges to capacity, it may not even be interested in eating for up to five days. I believe that a significant number of bass could grow to their maximum potential feeding on no other source than the trout trucks at the time of stocking.

One such California lake I consider a top contender is Casitas. When it was still producing bass up to 21 lb 3 oz, it was closed and lowered some forty or more feet for dam repair. Much of the edge of the lowered lake grew up in thick brush and vegetation over the years. The lake has recently been restored to its original level. What we now have is the new lake vitality, on a lake that produced the first modern era bass over 21 pounds, along with the element of unlimited submerged cover in the mix. I will be watching this one for the next couple of years.

To be complete, we would have to touch on the potential of South of the Border lakes. Mexico's resource has incredible potential, because it is a rich, mountainous environment with a lot of water exchange to preserve quality. There is enough depth to protect the bass from the heat, and the climate is tropical enough to drive a lavish year-round food chain. The lakes are too numerous to mention, but the list would include Bacarrac, Comedero, El Salto, Guerrero, Huites, Oviachic, and many others. All you can eat 365 days a year, with warm water temperatures, as simple as it sounds, is the formula for producing world record class bass.

So would my plan today be the same as it was when I first climbed into that aluminum boat almost thirty years ago? I would still say that it boils down do being in the right place, doing the right thing, for a long enough time. I just never thought it would go all the way to a new millennium full of new possibilities, new probabilities, and new reasons why there exists no longer just the chance, but the virtual certainty of a new world record bass.