Gigantic bass discovered in Tenn. lake

There is nothing like a report of a really big largemouth bass to get fishermen excited.

Back in 1976 when the Arkansas monster was caught, that 16-pound, 4-ounce largemouth there was a minor tourist boom in Northeast Arkansas. Angler flocked to little Mallard Lake to try to get something like Aaron Mardis did.

Here in the fall of 2009 is a somewhat similar situation but in Tennessee, not Arkansas.

A largemouth bass weighing 16 pound, 15 ounces came forth. The weight was verified, but get this, folks. The fish went back into the water and is there for someone to catch.

This huge bass was electroshocked by a crew of Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency biologists doing research. The biologists took measurements, studied the bass closely then gently slid it back into the water.

The site was a little impoundment in west Tennessee named Brown’s Creek Lake. It is just 167 acres and is in Henderson County. The lake is only 10 miles south of Interstate 40 between Jackson and Nashville, and it is near Natchez Trace State Park.

Brown’s Creek Lake is a facility of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, and here is a similarity to Mallard Lake in Arkansas.

The Tennessee agency even supplies some bass fishing tips for Brown’s Creek Lake: “Spinner baits are excellent for bass fishing. Spinners come in one and two blade styles. Fish single blades in deeper water and tandem blades in shallow water. In dingy, murky water, use Colorado blades for more vibration in the water. In lightly stained to clear water, use willow leaf blades for more reflection. If the fish are not biting, try slowing your retrieve.”

The Tennessee state record for largemouth bass is 14 pounds, 8 ounces, and it has stood for 55 years. Word is out on this recent find, which was made Oct. 21. The guess is traffic is picking up in the vicinity of Brown’s Creek Lake.

Bobby Wilson is the assistant chief of fisheries for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, and he made some interesting comments. First, he referred to the big fish as “she,” and no one knowledgeable about fish will argue the point. Big bass are nearly always females. Wilson pointed out that this is not the breeding season for bass, and the fish did not have eggs in it, or her. Wait until early spring, Wilson offered, and this will surely be a 17-pound-plus bass, maybe even approaching 18 pounds.

It is an old fish, he believes, so record hopefuls might hurry to make a catch — if they can.

Wilson hung the name of Brownie on the fish, but he is going along with a contest to name it. Veteran outdoor writer and broadcaster Larry Rea is directing the name contest through his Internet site, www.lroutdoors.com. Rea is a North Little Rock product and worked for the Pine Bluff Commercial before going to a long tenure at the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

It’s good to hear about a huge bass like this one in Tennessee. Some years back there was that flourish of reports of huge bass from some small lakes in southern California, and most bass people expected the ancient world record of George Perry, 24-plus pounds, to be broken. It didn’t happen.

Texas got into the largemouth bass game in a big way, making an all-out effort to produce fish of world record measurements. Big female bass were fertilized with sperm from big male bass in hatcheries. The Lone Star Lunker program is still going on, but nothing approaching the world record has come out of Texas. Quite a few bass of 13 to 15 pounds have turned up in several areas of Texas since the program began.

In Arkansas, one body of water, Lake Monticello, has been managed as a trophy bass lake, and some good ones have already come from it.