Post by Greenedog on Sept 21, 2009 10:28:04 GMT -5
They must have been waiting until the fish was verified by the DNR before they made it public, it was caught back in April.
From southbendtribune.com:
One big bass quite a catch
By LOUIE STOUT
It was a perfect day last April when Bryan Hanson and his fiancee, Katie Mandisch, began casting for bass around a Lake County private pond.
“Windy, overcast and temperatures in the 70s,” recalls the Hobart, Ind. angler. “Great conditions for early season bass.”
Oh man, was he ever right.
Katie quickly caught a couple of three pounders on a lipless crankbait. He also nailed a 6-pounder on a Sexy Shad spinnerbait.
But the best was yet to come.
The wind died and rain began to fall. Hanson walked to a point jutting offshore and switched to a Berkley Frenzy Firestick.
He made his first cast, jerked the black/silver bait only twice when it slammed into a brick wall. His 6-6 heavy action G. Loomis rod buckled and shook.
“I knew I had a nice one, like maybe 5-6 pounds, but it wasn't pulling that hard — until I got it close,” said Hanson, a 34-year-old manager of the Coach Outlet in Michigan City.
Suddenly, the fish boiled near the bank and darted to deeper water, peeling 15-pound Spiderwire line off his Quantum spinning reel spool. But not until he got a good look at it.
“I screamed for Katie to call her dad to find out what the state record was, because I knew this bass was over 10 pounds,” he said.
It was a struggle, but Hanson eventually landed the massive fish that weighed 11-1 on his digital scale — well below the 14-pound, 2-ounce record, but a giant bass for northern Indiana.
The DNR verified the fish for its 2009 Indiana Fish of the Year contest and predicts it will top all entries.
It was so big, in fact, that Hoosier biologists are calling it the biggest bass ever recorded and caught in northern Indiana.
“Way bigger than anything I've seen in all the years I've been doing this,” said Jed Pearson, a northern Indiana bass biologist since 1975. “Over the past 25 years, we've sampled (with nets and shocker boats) 200 lakes and handled thousands of bass, but never one even close to this.”
Veteran northeast Indiana fish biologist Neil Ledet agrees.
“It's at least four pounds larger than any bass I've ever seen in my corner of the state,” he noted.
The fish measured 25½ inches long and had a 19½-inch girth. By comparison, the state record, caught from a southern Indiana private lake in 1991, measured 27 inches and was more than three pounds heavier.
You expect to hear about trophy bass in southern Indiana waters where the climate provides a longer growing season. And while there have been rumors of 10 pounders being caught over the years from northern Indiana waters, none have been verified.
Until now.
Hanson said the private pond he fished is surrounded by agricultural fields and within earshot of interstate traffic. It has consistently produced big bass since he first fished it more than a year ago.
“I've hammered the 5 and 6 pounders there, but had no idea something like this lived there,” said the veteran bass angler. “I'm still shocked.”
Oddly enough, crappie are the primary forage, he said, noting the lake is full of them.
“When I caught this fish, she had a 7½-inch crappie sticking out of her throat that she had just eaten,” he said. “I'm amazed that she still wanted that Firestick.”
He snapped a few quick photos and released the monster bass back into the pond, hoping to catch her again. A taxidermist made him a replica of the fish from the photos and measurements he provided.
“She was a beautiful fish full of eggs,” Hanson said. “I told Katie, ‘I can't kill a fish like this,' so I turned her loose. I nearly cried when she swam away. I couldn't believe I just let an 11-pound bass go free.”
From southbendtribune.com:
One big bass quite a catch
By LOUIE STOUT
It was a perfect day last April when Bryan Hanson and his fiancee, Katie Mandisch, began casting for bass around a Lake County private pond.
“Windy, overcast and temperatures in the 70s,” recalls the Hobart, Ind. angler. “Great conditions for early season bass.”
Oh man, was he ever right.
Katie quickly caught a couple of three pounders on a lipless crankbait. He also nailed a 6-pounder on a Sexy Shad spinnerbait.
But the best was yet to come.
The wind died and rain began to fall. Hanson walked to a point jutting offshore and switched to a Berkley Frenzy Firestick.
He made his first cast, jerked the black/silver bait only twice when it slammed into a brick wall. His 6-6 heavy action G. Loomis rod buckled and shook.
“I knew I had a nice one, like maybe 5-6 pounds, but it wasn't pulling that hard — until I got it close,” said Hanson, a 34-year-old manager of the Coach Outlet in Michigan City.
Suddenly, the fish boiled near the bank and darted to deeper water, peeling 15-pound Spiderwire line off his Quantum spinning reel spool. But not until he got a good look at it.
“I screamed for Katie to call her dad to find out what the state record was, because I knew this bass was over 10 pounds,” he said.
It was a struggle, but Hanson eventually landed the massive fish that weighed 11-1 on his digital scale — well below the 14-pound, 2-ounce record, but a giant bass for northern Indiana.
The DNR verified the fish for its 2009 Indiana Fish of the Year contest and predicts it will top all entries.
It was so big, in fact, that Hoosier biologists are calling it the biggest bass ever recorded and caught in northern Indiana.
“Way bigger than anything I've seen in all the years I've been doing this,” said Jed Pearson, a northern Indiana bass biologist since 1975. “Over the past 25 years, we've sampled (with nets and shocker boats) 200 lakes and handled thousands of bass, but never one even close to this.”
Veteran northeast Indiana fish biologist Neil Ledet agrees.
“It's at least four pounds larger than any bass I've ever seen in my corner of the state,” he noted.
The fish measured 25½ inches long and had a 19½-inch girth. By comparison, the state record, caught from a southern Indiana private lake in 1991, measured 27 inches and was more than three pounds heavier.
You expect to hear about trophy bass in southern Indiana waters where the climate provides a longer growing season. And while there have been rumors of 10 pounders being caught over the years from northern Indiana waters, none have been verified.
Until now.
Hanson said the private pond he fished is surrounded by agricultural fields and within earshot of interstate traffic. It has consistently produced big bass since he first fished it more than a year ago.
“I've hammered the 5 and 6 pounders there, but had no idea something like this lived there,” said the veteran bass angler. “I'm still shocked.”
Oddly enough, crappie are the primary forage, he said, noting the lake is full of them.
“When I caught this fish, she had a 7½-inch crappie sticking out of her throat that she had just eaten,” he said. “I'm amazed that she still wanted that Firestick.”
He snapped a few quick photos and released the monster bass back into the pond, hoping to catch her again. A taxidermist made him a replica of the fish from the photos and measurements he provided.
“She was a beautiful fish full of eggs,” Hanson said. “I told Katie, ‘I can't kill a fish like this,' so I turned her loose. I nearly cried when she swam away. I couldn't believe I just let an 11-pound bass go free.”
Just another night at work for me and Monty will be back here again bright and early. 
