Michigan Largemouth Bass Record ?

[J.Vincent]

1 hour ago, Scott F said:

The longer bass may have had an empty stomach, and the shorter one may have been full from a meal

Yes, I didn’t think about that. The 1934 fish was actually caught late June and probably post spawn while the 1959 fish was caught in early September at a time when baitfish are plentiful in the shallows. So your explanation is most likely right. Thanks !

[12poundbass]

9 hours ago, A-Jay said:

I had them both beat on girth but lacked an inch or so of length.

Made all the difference.

A-Jay

Are you referring to your Mexico bass? 

[umckibben]

I'm in Wisconsin but similar bass fishing in my opinion, I've personally seen an 8.5# pre spawn female from a smaller state park lake, I wouldn't doubt there's a few over 10# in the state at certain times of the year, I believe!

[A-Jay]

39 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

Are you referring to your Mexico bass? 

No Sir -

This one . . . 

A-Jay

 

[12poundbass]

2 hours ago, A-Jay said:

No Sir -

This one . . . 

A-Jay

 

Completely forgot about that big girl! She never missed a meal does she. 

[A-Jay]

1 hour ago, 12poundbass said:

Completely forgot about that big girl! She never missed a meal does she. 

Apparently not.

And she did seem to have a particularly strong affection for big spinnerbaits. . . .

A-Jay 

[J.Vincent]

So to summarize:

 

-Michigan State Record Largemouth is 11.94 pounds. 

 

-A fish of that weight was caught in 1934 and then another of the same EXACT weight was caught in 1959

 

-In the 60 years since the 1959 record matching catch , only one person has caught and reported a 10lb Michigan LMB and that was 20 years ago in 1999, in Kalamazoo. 

 

-A DNR coordinator said, they have limited information about the two record Michigan LMB because “records were not kept in the 1930s and 1950s , like they are now.”

 

That’s a good amount of researching , but it leaves me wondering:

 

a) Was the actual story ever printed or written about in newspapers ?

 

b) Where are the people who heard the story firsthand and/or remember reading about it ? 

 

c) Could pollution, chemicals or plastics in our waters , shorten the lifespan of a LMB, and potentially be the reason we haven’t seen more double digit Michigan LMB ?

 

d) or were those Fish absolutely just freaks of nature ?

 

[12poundbass]

1 hour ago, J.Vincent said:

A fish of that weight was caught in 1934 and then another of the same EXACT weight was caught in 1959

 

It may not have been the exact weight. I know with the world record at least you have to surpass the weight by a certain percentage or weight in order to actually break the record. Either way they were bother very close in weight.

 

I imagine there’s at least a news article of the one caught in ‘59. I wouldn’t have the slightest clue how’d you’d track that down. Maybe a library or historical society up there? We have the gentleman’s name, like you said he most likely has family around some place. I’m sure things up there are like my small towns around me, best place to get info especially fishing is find the restaurant the old men hang out in every morning, drink coffee and chew the fat (now there’s a small town term). ?

 

I’d like to see this thing through. I believe we can produce some sort of first hand knowledge or picture of the ‘59 fish. The ‘32 I think given the time and decades passed that ship has sailed. 

[12poundbass]

In case you haven’t seen the current record smallmouth here’s a picture the first biologist sent me.

 

 

[A-Jay]

1 hour ago, 12poundbass said:

In case you haven’t seen the current record smallmouth here’s a picture the first biologist sent me.

 

 

Great Smallie - 

But this shows me very clearly, how fish presentation during a photo can make a world of difference.

A-Jay

[Choporoz]

I don't know about Michigan, but here in Virginia, EVERY time I fish a new-to-me lake, somebody there tells me that shocking surveys there in the last two years turned up 10 pound LMB.....EVERY single lake?  Really?  LOL

[J.Vincent]

I wrenched my back and had time to do more research, and found this article from 2001. Basicly it summarizes most of what we already talked about in this Post, but it's a good article and includes an interesting point about Michigan Bass (according to a Michigan research biologist, there is virtually no stocking efforts and the bass here are mostly grown naturally. This reinforces the fact, it requires something special in a body of water to produce a double digit Michigan LMB)

https://www.flwfishing.com/tips/2001-06-15-michigan-s-venerable-state-records-pose-quite-a-task-for-flw-anglers

 

 

 

[12poundbass]

On 6/14/2019 at 1:49 PM, J.Vincent said:

I wrenched my back and had time to do more research, and found this article from 2001. Basicly it summarizes most of what we already talked about in this Post, but it's a good article and includes an interesting point about Michigan Bass (according to a Michigan research biologist, there is virtually no stocking efforts and the bass here are mostly grown naturally. This reinforces the fact, it requires something special in a body of water to produce a double digit Michigan LMB)

https://www.flwfishing.com/tips/2001-06-15-michigan-s-venerable-state-records-pose-quite-a-task-for-flw-anglers

 

 

 

I thought the same when I saw those records a few days ago but Illinois and Indiana both go further south so warmer weather. 

On 6/14/2019 at 12:25 PM, A-Jay said:

Great Smallie - 

But this shows me very clearly, how fish presentation during a photo can make a world of difference.

A-Jay

It sure does!

[brgbassmaster]

Biggest largie ive personally seen is a little over 7lbs. i think there is a 10 somewhere swimming around. Dudes in Massachusetts cstch 8s and 9s every yeat and their state is very similar. Now as you know an almoat 10lb smallie was caught a few years back and i def believe one of those is swimming around. 

[Fishin' Fool]

I am late to the party but great job everyone looking into history of Michigan's record bass. Forget about a 10 pounder I'd just like to catch a 6 pounder one day.

[JHauler]

Hey guys! Im new here, but I had to make an account to get in on the convo which i hope i can raise from the dead. The info here is awesome but I think I may be able to add, I noticed michael jay downeys bass all came from rather smaller lakes, and with some different stocking patterns. I know the one body of water was stocked with yellow perch, and another with baby tiger muskie (when you think about it, 12” easy to swallow protein bars) and he also used different baits, such as a live bullfrog, (maybe we’re all doing it wrong?). In my opinion, i think our big bass could come from somewhere stocked with trout, whats your opinion?

JHauler

[Therooferking]

Little late to the party but I caught a 28 inch 10lb bass in southern Michigan in 1994. Caught it in a private 2 acre pond no one ever fished. No idea how deep it was. May have been spring fed. There are a bunch of other ponds nearby. We fished it one time. Caught several over 5 pounds. All caught on a 7.5 tomato culprit. 

[Smokinal]

There's no way you could convince me that the heaviest bass, in any state, has been caught.

 

There's a record in every state lurking somewhere.

[roadwarrior]

23 minutes ago, Smokinal said:

There's no way you could convince me that the heaviest bass, in any state, has been caught.

 

There's a record in every state lurking somewhere.

Well, this one goes back to 1955 and may never be broken:

 

https://www.bassmaster.com/news/david-hayes-and-world-record-smallmouth-bass

[Smokinal]

Are there any pics of that behemoth^^^? Must be a complete sow!

 

I guess I just feel the chances of the absolute heaviest fish in a state has been caught are astronomical.

[Team9nine]

1 hour ago, Smokinal said:

There's no way you could convince me that the heaviest bass, in any state, has been caught.

 

There's a record in every state lurking somewhere.

...not in Indiana - lol.

 

We’re kind of like Mass. in that our state record was a freak, pounds above the previous records, and has now stood for almost 30 years. Plus, our big bass waters have all been fished down hard over the past couple decades.

 

We might one day thanks to a warming climate...or Livescope  ? but I’m not expecting it in my lifetime

[Smokinal]

20 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

 

We might one day thanks to a warming climate...or Livescope  ?

Well I hope you get her!

[Team9nine]

3 minutes ago, Smokinal said:

Well I hope you get her!

It won’t be me  ? those days of fishing all over the state are over. I know a person or two chasing after a DD bass around here, but that’s still a far cry from a nearly 15 lb bass. If it ever happens, it will probably be a fluke just like the current record. We’ll see

[Team9nine]

On 6/14/2019 at 12:27 PM, J.Vincent said:

So to summarize:

 

-Michigan State Record Largemouth is 11.94 pounds. 

 

-A fish of that weight was caught in 1934 and then another of the same EXACT weight was caught in 1959

 

-In the 60 years since the 1959 record matching catch , only one person has caught and reported a 10lb Michigan LMB and that was 20 years ago in 1999, in Kalamazoo. 

 

-A DNR coordinator said, they have limited information about the two record Michigan LMB because “records were not kept in the 1930s and 1950s , like they are now.”

 

That’s a good amount of researching , but it leaves me wondering:

 

a) Was the actual story ever printed or written about in newspapers ?

 

b) Where are the people who heard the story firsthand and/or remember reading about it ? 

 

c) Could pollution, chemicals or plastics in our waters , shorten the lifespan of a LMB, and potentially be the reason we haven’t seen more double digit Michigan LMB ?

 

d) or were those Fish absolutely just freaks of nature ?

 

 

On 6/14/2019 at 1:47 PM, 12poundbass said:

It may not have been the exact weight. I know with the world record at least you have to surpass the weight by a certain percentage or weight in order to actually break the record. Either way they were bother very close in weight.

 

I imagine there’s at least a news article of the one caught in ‘59. I wouldn’t have the slightest clue how’d you’d track that down. Maybe a library or historical society up there? We have the gentleman’s name, like you said he most likely has family around some place. I’m sure things up there are like my small towns around me, best place to get info especially fishing is find the restaurant the old men hang out in every morning, drink coffee and chew the fat (now there’s a small town term). ?

 

I’d like to see this thing through. I believe we can produce some sort of first hand knowledge or picture of the ‘59 fish. The ‘32 I think given the time and decades passed that ship has sailed. 

 

I did some digging around and came up with this for the 1959 fish. Unfortunately, no pics. This was in the Sept. 27, 1959 Detroit Free Press. Interestingly, there have been two claims and supposed confirmation of a new MI state record bass over the years.

 

July 29, 1971 it was reported that a Gerald A Blocker of Ann Arbor caught a 12-01 that was 26-7/8" and caught from "a lake in Oakland Co." according to DNR on a spinning outfit with 6# test and a plastic worm casting off a dock. It was later reported as 24.75" with a 23.75" girth. That fish must have been scratched from the records at some point though articles claiam it was recorded as the record by DNR.

 

Another bass claimed a record weighing 12-15.5 by a Dan Fitgerald back on June 14, 1982 from Wamplers Lake on a #11 black and silver Rapala. It was reported in several papers over several weeks, but I don't know what happened or what was found out that it isn't listed as the current record. DNR was aware of the fish as they supposedly confirmed it, so these fish might be a question for your contacts at the agency.

 

[12poundbass]

1 hour ago, Team9nine said:

 

 

I did some digging around and came up with this for the 1959 fish. Unfortunately, no pics. This was in the Sept. 27, 1959 Detroit Free Press. Interestingly, there have been two claims and supposed confirmation of a new MI state record bass over the years.

 

July 29, 1971 it was reported that a Gerald A Blocker of Ann Arbor caught a 12-01 that was 26-7/8" and caught from "a lake in Oakland Co." according to DNR on a spinning outfit with 6# test and a plastic worm casting off a dock. It was later reported as 24.75" with a 23.75" girth. That fish must have been scratched from the records at some point though articles claiam it was recorded as the record by DNR.

 

Another bass claimed a record weighing 12-15.5 by a Dan Fitgerald back on June 14, 1982 from Wamplers Lake on a #11 black and silver Rapala. It was reported in several papers over several weeks, but I don't know what happened or what was found out that it isn't listed as the current record. DNR was aware of the fish as they supposedly confirmed it, so these fish might be a question for your contacts at the agency.

 

Nice work Brian, thank you! 

Interesting you were able to dig up a couple more supposed state records. I hadn’t heard anything about these.