When Todd Faircloth won the Sabine River Bassmaster Elite Series in 2013, one of his four bags weighed less than 8 pounds. Here's a picture of a single bass from that system that undoubtedly exceeds that mark.
The fish was caught recently by Brandon Beardon out of a cut off the Neches River. From the Sabine, the Neches is accessed via the Intercoastal Waterway. It's one of the many areas that will be in play next week when the Elite Series returns to start the 2015 campaign.
"Brandon was just out fishing with his son and his little brother," said Scott Jordan, who operates the Phoenix Boats dealership in Vidor, Texas. "He has a bass boat, but this time they just ran down there with a little aluminum boat with no livewell or scales.
"He caught the fish on a spinnerbait. At first he thought he had a redfish on because you catch those down there, too. Since he didn't have a scale or well, he just took some pictures and put it back because he didn't want it to die. He felt like it might've been 10 pounds or so – it was at least 8 or 9, for sure.
"For the river, that's about as big a fish as you're ever going to see," Jordan continued. "Somebody catches one like that maybe once every 2 or 3 years."
