Lake Sam Rayburn, TX. .... "Feeling another light tap of a hit right after catching and releasing small bass, the angler informed, "I told my fishing partner that I thought I had another "dink" hitting me, then upon setting my hook into what I thought was another small bass -"ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE"- as water, grass, mud and "my adrenalin" suddenly erupted as the "DINK" quickly bolted off with me, and our boat in tow!.... "Uhh, my partner blurted as he started digging for the net, I don^t think it^s a dink! "As the big fish continued to erupt, boil, and pull us around, cutting grass as it bulldozed its way through the grass-bed, I then thought it might be an Opelousas catfish which were common catches for this type of fishing, "Then, after another 10 or 15 minutes, the un-seen monster began to tire as I was finally able to work it up near the boat." My fishing partner, now standing next to me with the net at the ready, quickly stuttered, "Uh, "uh,......... "I don^t think the net^s gonna^ be big enough Carl!!! Carl Wright, owner/proprietor of Rayburn Tackle on Lake Sam Rayburn, along with fishing guide, John Walker, managed to re-verb the Freshwater World Record Books with a new line-class listing for 17 lb test. The, "normally", bass tournament angler was field testing a new fishing rod for his tackle shop when he hooked, fought, and landed a 45 inch long by 40 inch wide 75.5 lb Small mouth Buffalo. "It was last Saturday afternoon and I wanted to field test a new fishing rod that Allstar had sent me before stocking them in my shop, Carl explained, "So I met up with John and we headed out to the Solley^s Woods area. "We had been catching some nice bass in that area and I figured it^d be the best place to go since we had overcast skies and light, misty rains. "The rod was an Allstar Zell Rowland model 6.6 "Top-water" Special which I had rigged up with a Quantum 1310-CX reel spooled with Berkley "Vanish" 17 lb test flour-o-carbon mono. "After arriving at one of our favorite spots, a large grass-bed in about 4^ to 6^ of water, Carl informed, "John started fishing with top-waters and spinner-baits while I chose to work a watermelon/red Reaction trick-worm. "On my very first cast, Carl grumbled, "I managed to hook a staub and after some frustrating moments was finally able to work it free. "My 2/0 straight-shank Gamakatsu hook was bent so I re-shaped it on a boat-cleat, re-rigged with another Reaction trick-worm, and made another cast. "My first bass, Carl informed, "Was a smallish bass of just under 2 lbs, then after releasing it I re-casted to an opening in the grass-bed where I immediately felt another light tap of a hit. "I then turned to John to inform him that I had another "dink" hitting me, "Then, after setting the hook into what I thought was another small bass -"ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE"- as water, mud, grass, and "my adrenalin" suddenly erupted as the "DINK" quickly bolted off with me, and our boat in tow. "Of course my first thought was bass, a HUGE BASS, but after the first few seconds I knew it wasn^t a bass and started re-setting my stance for a hard fight with what I thought might be a large Opelousas catfish, as my fishing partner started diggin^ for the landing net. "As the big fish continued to "erupt" through the grass-bed, cutting grass as it tried to bulldoze its way towards deep water, "I knew that I had to put a lot of pressure on the fish to keep it from getting to it, "So, with John handling the troll-motor and with me trying to force the un-seen monster back towards the boat the huge fish finally began to tire. "Then, after another 10 or 15 more minutes of "toe-to-toe" battling, with the fish charging under the boat several times, the rod, line, reel, and hook managed to survive the ordeal as they held together long enough for me to finally work the brute to the top. "Uh, "uh, John stuttered as he stood next to me with the net, "I don^t think this net is gonna^ be big enough Carl!! "But after some very trying moments, Carl advised, "We were finally able to "cram" the huge bulk of that rather large fish into the net. "Then, after hefting the netted fish to guess-t-imate its weight, Carl explained, "I then figured it to be about 80 lbs. "My partner, who may have wanted to release the fish, stated that we were wasting time by messing with it, "But knowing that such huge fish had to be some kind of a record, "I decided to try and get it weighed and certified as a possible record of some sort, "So, despite the "grumblings" of John that we were giving up some prime bass fishing time, we headed back in to get it checked out. "Where, after TP&W Fisheries Biologist, Todd Driscol, recognized it as being a Small Mouth Buffalo we took it to Mill Creek Lodge & Grocery where they certified the fish as weighing 75.5 lbs, Carl stated. "After looking in the Lakecaster magazine and seeing that the present lake record was holding at 62.50 lbs, "I then called Lakecaster Editor, Ed Snyder, where he then arrived at Mill Creek Lodge to take pictures and help with the proper paper work. In being that Carl Wright managed to catch his 75.5 lb Small mouth Buffalo on 17 -lb test line he stands to be recognized by the IGFA record book, which lists a 64 -lb 8-oz line-class "and" the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame record book, which has an "open" listing. And with the present Texas State record "rod and reel caught" Small Mouth Buffalo holding at 82.20 lbs, Carl^s fish won^t qualify as a state record, but with Sam Rayburn^s lake record holding at 62.50 lbs, Carl^s catch should become the new lake record. After the certification process is complete -(which takes about 6 weeks)- Carl Wright should also become the new 17 lb test "line-class" World Record holder as well. "An amazing catch to be accomplished on such light fishing tackle. "I was really surprised that the Allstar rod held up under such tremendous stress and strain, Carl admired, "And I^m especially impressed with the Berkley line, which had already been severely scraped and chaffed even before I had hooked the fish, as it still held up during the bull-dogging extreme^s of the big Buffalo. "The Quantum reel and Gamakatsu hook should also take a bow, as should the Reaction trick-worm which I had heavily scented with Smelly Jelly. "I really feel proud of the fact that I had just landed a possible World Record for my angling expertise, Carl begun to brag as he looked to John Walker for some "back-patting", "Well yeah, John teasingly grumbled,...... "But it wasn^t a bass Carl-!!!........"nuff-said". For more information on Carl Wright^s amazing world record catch contact Rayburn Tackle at the "appropriate" -(1-800-Big Hawg)- phone number

Uploaded: 2/21/2004