BassHogFishing.com Blog

WYNNE – Almost 36 years to the day, Arkansas’s largemouth bass state record  has finally been broken. On Tuesday, Paul Crowder of Forrest City set  the new record on Lake Dunn near Wynne. Crowder’s lunker weighed 16  pounds 5 ounces, breaking the old record by just a single ounce.

Aaron Mardis of Memphis had held the state record since March 2, 1976.  Mardis’ 16 pound 4 ounce fish was caught on Mallard Lake near Manilla in Mississippi County.

Crowder broke the record on the afternoon of Feb. 28 using a plastic 6-inch  Mann’s jelly worm with a bullet sinker and plastic rattle in tequila  sunrise. He was using an Enigma rod and reel combo purchased from Bass  Pro Shops. Crowder caught the fish on Trilene 14-pound test line.  Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Fisheries Biologist Lee Holt certified the fish on a certified scale at Hayes Market in Wynne.

The fish measured 26½ inches in length and was 22¾ inches in girth. Crowder said that he had been fishing all day for catfish without any luck. “I  made a cast and set the rod down to take a look at my catfish rods when I noticed the rod was just about out of the boat,” he said. “I was able  to grab it just before it went out of the boat,” he added. It was the  only fish he caught all day.

It only took about eight minutes for Crowder to reel the record into the  boat. “I didn’t have a net, so it took me five or six tries before I was able to lip it and get in the boat,” he explained.

The 80-acre lake is located in Village Creek State Park in Cross County.  The AGFC is going to test the fish to see what genetic strain of bass it is, according to Assistant Chief of Fisheries Chris Racey. “We are  going to take samples to determine if the fish is a pure northern strain or if it has Florida bass genetics,” Racey explained.

Can you believe it that the warm stuff is on the way and we can say good-by to Mr winter. That brings up a few thing that you might forget while you are getting ready to hit the lake.

First thing is the Therma Cell.  Mosquitoes will be looking for a meal and if you have your Therma Cell they will not be making a with draw of blood from you. It is so easy to order from both my websites….and if you are not fishing those B B Q s on the patio in the back yard. Therma Cell makes a lantern that will also chase those Mosquitoes away. I use two in my back yard and have not been bitten one time by a Mosquitoes, and they love my Daughters blood and she has not been bit.

Second thing is do you plan on dropping your phone over the side or purchase a Clip Hanger so it does not happen to you. I have dropped two over the side and you would think I would have learned by now. I was getting the crappie out of the live well when I heard a plunk…that’s right dropped it in the live well…guess it takes me awhile to learn the lesson. I have an article on both sites where you can get a Clip Hanger so my dumb mistakes you can learn from and not do it your self.

O.K. just starting off Bass Fishing “GREAT” you will have so much fun and all the sights you will see that very few people see.  If you need a great starter Look at my fishing buddy “BILL DANCE” fishing instruction on how to become a better Angler he show you how to fish about every lure and why he uses the lure.

The rods lures and loading the boat will leave to you and if a question pops up write me and I will either answer your question or find the answer for you.

Keep The Hooks Wet

Steve

What better way to start off a article…something that will grab your attention and hold on to it, or maybe I should have asked if you would you like Arnold Schwarzenegger Arms ?

O.K. what I am getting at is the Alabama Rig, I got a chance the other day to get out on a kind of warm day in Memphis and try what everyone has been buzzing about. First of all I recommend that you get it set up except the hooks, It took me about ten minutes to get it all set up with the swim baits that came with it. Number 1  the swim baits were a little to big for this small pond, you might want to think about using lures like flukes, or another small soft lure to cut down on the weight two you must have a heavy rod to cast the rig and all in all I did manage to cast the Alabama rig about forty times that day and it wore my arm out. They were correct in saying you would be casting 1 to 2 ounces and they did not miss that weight.

My fishing buddy that day had a medium rod and when he held it over the side of the boat it sure put a bend on that rod. Both he and I were using Power Pro Braided line, and here again when you throw something this heavy you better have a very strong line, not to mention if you get lucky and catch more than two big bass.

Both of us that day decided if we were going to throw this RIG we might look at smaller baits that do not weigh as much as 5 swim baits. Like I said earlier I did manage to cast the rig not as far as if I had a Spinner Bait…but far enough…you got to remember that you have to reel this back in and again you feel every one of those swim baits. Now I see why the use them in deep-sea fishing where they troll with them instead. “BOY” I would love to troll this rig beside a pad of grass, Lily Pads, or just moss just on the outside and I can see catching five at a time. I wanted to see what the Bass were looking at and I can see why they want to bite it. It looks just like a school of shad an easy meal just bunched up and boy what an action the have and do not get tangled up with any other bait. I saw where this bait would be number one in the fall when the bass start chasing the shad and want to fill up before winter. Here again maybe when the bass are on the beds in the spring you just got to practice casting the baits and have it hit the water not making a noise. I tried it and it was like throwing a 55 gallon bucket in the lake, you talk about making a noise.

I recommend if you are in a State that allows the Alabama Rig go out and practice first and see what you can do….then go after the Bass and see if you can get Arnold Schwarzenegger Arms.

Keep All the Hooks Wet

Steve

I had to start this off just that way…a fishing buddy called me today and after I had been talking to him I explained I was out to see how this Alabama Rig Works in the water and just what it look like coming through the water. What scared me the most was if I were a Bass I could not turn down a meal bunch up like this. This lure is something.

Now comes in the Meat Hunters, last year the guys next to us were coming back to the cabin three or four times a day with three ice chest full of BASS. My buddy and I figured after the three or four days that they were at Pickwick they might have taken two hundred or more BASS. Now with this Alabama Rig  with about 200 hundred boats with two anglers in the boat the amount of Bass taken from a place like Pickwick Lake would have a toll even on a lake/river of that size.

What do we do to ensure that anglers put back the bass so we can catch some fish next trip. I see anglers harvest more than they could ever eat in a giving year. Maybe signing in and make the PROMISE NOT TO KEEP MORE BASS THAN YOU CAN EAT IN A WEEK. All Pro anglers can only have one rod and one lure in the water at a time for The classic coming up later this month. I  am not saying make it a law we can not fish the Alabama Rig even I would like to see what it would be like to have about five three pounders giving me a fight that I will not forget.

IT WILL BE SOMETHING FOR ALL US ANGLERS TO KEEP A CLOSE WATCH..AND THAT INCLUDES THE GUY IN THE BACK OF YOUR BOAT. Think Conservation.

Keep The Hooks Wet

Steve