Keith Bryan, president of Powell rods, received notice today from the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) that the 10.48-pound spotted bass he caught from California's New Melones Reservoir in February has been declared the new all-tackle world record. It also sets the new standard for the species in the 8-pound-test line class.
Bryan caught the fish en route to winning a 2-day California Tournament Trail event.
"I am speechless at this moment," he said. "I already felt like I had lived a dream by winning a pro-am event that day, but to have that fish be declared a world record is something I would have never dreamed of being a part of."
Bryan caught the bass using a wacky-rigged green-pumpkin purple and copper flake (color 330) 5-inch Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits Senko in approximately 10 feet of water. He inserted a 3/32-ounce Lunker City Nail Weight in the nose and rigged it on a size 2 Gamakatsu Wide Gap Weedless Finesse Hook. He threw the rig on a 6103mef Powell Inferno spinning rod and size 3000 Shimano Sahara reel filled with 8-pound Power Pro braided line, tipped with a leader of 8-pound Seaguar Invizx fluorocarbon.
"I'm so proud and humbled at the same time by this notification and I'm absolutely beside myself with joy," he said. "I think it's a great thing for the entire Northern California fishing community and for California as a whole that the world record was once again broken in our state; I'm just felling so blessed that I get to be a part of it.
"As great a spotted bass fishery as the state of California has become, I'm certain that this record will fall again soon," he continued. "But to have held this record for even 1 day is a dream, and an accomplishment that any angler should be proud of. It's something that I can say for the rest of my life, that I caught a world-record spotted bass. This has truly been a dream come true."
(Photo credit: Bass Angler Headquarters)
