If this were a normal week, Gabe Keen would've been in a Campbell County (Tenn.) High School classroom teaching history today. But a rash of illnesses in the district caused the cancellation of classes for the latter part of this week, and that allowed Keen to venture out to Lake Chickamauga and make some history of his own.
The 28-year-old was fishing alone when he caught a 15.20-pound largemouth, which once certified will break the 60-year-old Tennessee state record for the species. The current record is a 14.80-pound fish caught Oct. 17, 1954 by James Barnett at Sugar Creek in Lawrence County.
Keen, who coaches the bass fishing team at Campbell County, was fishing a Dixie Custom Rods umbrella rig with jigheads made by the Dayton Boat Dock and Zoom Super Flukes when the fish bit just before noon. He was on the lower end of the lake in the vicinity of Chester Frost Park.
He wasn't actually "hawg hunting" on Friday; he was practicing for a Catch Ministries tournament that'll take place on Saturday. However, he did catch a 9-06 (his previous personal-best) in the same place almost exactly a year ago.
"I knew big fish lived there, but I had no clue there were any that big," he told BassFan this evening. "That one I caught last year that was a little over 9, you could've put it in this one's mouth.
"When I got it on the floor of my boat, my first thought was it was well over 10 pounds. I wasn't sure what the state record was, so I started trying to get ahold of somebody who knew about that stuff. It weighed 15-03 on the scale I had with me."
The fish weighed 15.20 pounds on a certified scale at the Bi-Lo grocery store in Soddy Daisy, Tenn. Video of the weigh-in can be seen below.
Naturally, the fish was a big confidence booster for his weekend derby.
"It kind of confirms what I'd thought about the places I was fishing, but we'll have to see what happens," he said.
BassFans will recall that last February a 49-pound limit came out of Chickamauga as guide Rogne Brown and BassFan sales exec Tim Carini got into a bunch of pre-spawn fish (click here to read about their experience).
