Post by Greenedog on Apr 16, 2012 21:10:38 GMT -5
Caught on 10lb test while bass fishing! 
Local teenager hauls in state-record bass on Hiwassee Lake
By MARK TOWNSEND
mtownsend@cherokeescout.com
Tuesday, April 3, 2012 8:05 PM CDT Beaver Dam – When Tyler Shields went fishing on Hiwassee Lake with a group of buddies Saturday, there was no way he could have known just how busy a relaxing day was going to get.
Shields was out with friends Lucas Kilpatrick, Logan Howard and Caleb Davis near Beaver Dam, using a 10-pound test Bass Pro Shop excel fishing line and Bionic Blade Open Face rod, also bought at Bass Pro Shop. Using a black Zoom trip worm for bait, Shields got the biggest surprise of his young life.
Just before noon Saturday, the 17-year-old Shields – a junior at Hiwassee Dam High School – hooked into what was to become a state-record striped bass, hauling in the 66-pound monster after a 45-minute battle. “I still can’t believe it,” said Shields, who already has been contacted by Field & Stream. “But I never could have caught it by myself, without my friends being there.”
Shields, a lifelong angler whose biggest bass before this was a 5-pound largemouth, said he saw the monster striper strike, but it only broke the surface once during the 45 minutes battle.
“After it broke the water, we never saw it again until we got it in the net,” he said. “It actually broke the net and sent to the bottom of it. The only reason it didn’t go through the net was because it was so fat.”
Shield’s fish also was less than two pounds off the fresh water world record, set in California in 1992.
Once Shields had the fish – which topped the old state record of 54 pounds set in 1991 – in the boat, the hardest part of his day actually began.
Shields and his father, Michael, who had left the golf course to help his son, said they had to get in touch with game wardens and the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission to begin the paperwork that would certify the fish as a new record for North Carolina.
“We had to get a game warden to fill out the paperwork, then find a state biologist,” Michael Shields said.
“We had a state guy drive over from Sylva, but then we had to find scales that were USDA-certified to weigh the fish.”
Shields said the first option was MGM Brakes, but the scales there were not certified.
The next choice was a set of scales at Stiles Packing House in Marble, which were certified. However, after the fish weighed in at 63 pounds, it was discovered that the scales had not been recertified recently enough for it to be official.
“We finally found a scale that would work at Interstate Welding,” Shields said. “It was about 8 p.m. when the state biologist from Sylva finally got the fish weighed, and it was 66 pounds.”
Michael Shields said after the record became official, there were still friends and visitors that wanted to see the catch and it was almost midnight before the family finally headed to bed.
The fish – which has a 35-inch girth – is being mounted at Wilderness Taxidermy Outfitters in Franklin.
“I’ll tell you, he is one lucky kid,” mom Tina Shields said laughing. “He had a hole-in-one while playing golf in the ninth grade, now this fish.”
Local teenager hauls in state-record bass on Hiwassee Lake
By MARK TOWNSEND
mtownsend@cherokeescout.com
Tuesday, April 3, 2012 8:05 PM CDT Beaver Dam – When Tyler Shields went fishing on Hiwassee Lake with a group of buddies Saturday, there was no way he could have known just how busy a relaxing day was going to get.
Shields was out with friends Lucas Kilpatrick, Logan Howard and Caleb Davis near Beaver Dam, using a 10-pound test Bass Pro Shop excel fishing line and Bionic Blade Open Face rod, also bought at Bass Pro Shop. Using a black Zoom trip worm for bait, Shields got the biggest surprise of his young life.
Just before noon Saturday, the 17-year-old Shields – a junior at Hiwassee Dam High School – hooked into what was to become a state-record striped bass, hauling in the 66-pound monster after a 45-minute battle. “I still can’t believe it,” said Shields, who already has been contacted by Field & Stream. “But I never could have caught it by myself, without my friends being there.”
Shields, a lifelong angler whose biggest bass before this was a 5-pound largemouth, said he saw the monster striper strike, but it only broke the surface once during the 45 minutes battle.
“After it broke the water, we never saw it again until we got it in the net,” he said. “It actually broke the net and sent to the bottom of it. The only reason it didn’t go through the net was because it was so fat.”
Shield’s fish also was less than two pounds off the fresh water world record, set in California in 1992.
Once Shields had the fish – which topped the old state record of 54 pounds set in 1991 – in the boat, the hardest part of his day actually began.
Shields and his father, Michael, who had left the golf course to help his son, said they had to get in touch with game wardens and the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission to begin the paperwork that would certify the fish as a new record for North Carolina.
“We had to get a game warden to fill out the paperwork, then find a state biologist,” Michael Shields said.
“We had a state guy drive over from Sylva, but then we had to find scales that were USDA-certified to weigh the fish.”
Shields said the first option was MGM Brakes, but the scales there were not certified.
The next choice was a set of scales at Stiles Packing House in Marble, which were certified. However, after the fish weighed in at 63 pounds, it was discovered that the scales had not been recertified recently enough for it to be official.
“We finally found a scale that would work at Interstate Welding,” Shields said. “It was about 8 p.m. when the state biologist from Sylva finally got the fish weighed, and it was 66 pounds.”
Michael Shields said after the record became official, there were still friends and visitors that wanted to see the catch and it was almost midnight before the family finally headed to bed.
The fish – which has a 35-inch girth – is being mounted at Wilderness Taxidermy Outfitters in Franklin.
“I’ll tell you, he is one lucky kid,” mom Tina Shields said laughing. “He had a hole-in-one while playing golf in the ninth grade, now this fish.”
Just another night at work for me and Monty will be back here again bright and early. 
