Did Florida Produce the World Record SMALLMOUTH Bass?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.พ. 2025
- Episode 3
This is the story of the pre-1950 smallmouth bass records caught by Walter Harden from Florida. Harden caught two world record smallmouth bass between 1931 and 1932, with numerous fish over 10 pounds reportedly caught. In this episode of The Big Bass Podcast, Ken and Terry go through the evidence as well as the biological traits known at the time and decide who was at fault for this misrepresented world record. It's a fun discussion and one you'll want to comment on.
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Stoked to finally get this! Been waiting for this since it was first talked about on BTL like a year ago.
It takes Ken a while to embrace technology. 🙂
@@TerryBattisti1 Sad, but true. -- Ken
Love the show keep up the good work
Thank you, William!
Great pod cast and fun story
Thank you, Darkman! -- Ken
Love the videos by the way! Fellow big bass junky!!!!!
awesome stuff gentlemen!
Thank you! -- Ken
A friend of mine caught a 10 pound smallmouth bass on 7/4/22 from the James River in Virginia and hardly anyone knows because the fish and game offices were closed.He has pictures and videos!
Matthew, does he have video of it or a picture? Terry
@@thebigbasspodcast he has both and he received a trophy fish citation for the catch certifying it as 10lbs, but they denied him our state"s record because no one from the fish and game department examined the fish in person.
@@thebigbasspodcast please give me email address to send you the pictures I have of the fish, I also have a video of him weighing it. I can't figure out how to send them on TH-cam
I'd love to see the pics and video as well. Could you send them to my email? I'm a trophy bass fisherman from the northeast.
Matthew, you can reach us at: ken@thebigbasspodcast.com and/or terry@thebigbasspodcast.com
Walter harden was the kinda guy to catch a florida small mouth while holding the spinning rod upside down
Great topic guys . They could never get away with this "Piscatorial Specie-al Appropriation " these days though .
I had a kids fishing book of Florida from thecway 60's.. Fresh & saltwater fishing. I had t 8:11 his book gound in my grandparents gar 8:13 age i😮n early 90s when i was just a smallish boy of 8:07 8:10 12 or 13. I vaguely remember this being dicussed. Bell if broom , rainbow a d brown yrout can live successfully but only Nov -March in EXTREME Northern inland panhandle areas. Indeed
.some ponds in upoer inland Panhandle are stocked in
NOrth Florida Panhandle in winter..? south of Lake City/Live Oak in Northeastern..fl
.
. approaching panhandle
..rven in winter thrh pro. Wouldn't make it
.but the panhandle inland ..there is the only stretches of significant elevation change with actual hills. A dry sir cave system. Whitewater rapids in a part of Suwanee river a 70 goobre ord waterfall, springs. Spring fed lakes and ponds that stay cool year round
.and the cokdest weather in winter in state. Avg lows in Tallahassee, Crestview, Defuniak Springs, etc see s g winter liws from 36 - 3🎉9 degteesy feranheit... they stock only enough to be able to fish out all or mist by April.. before it gets too jot... They do yhis every year. Charge people to fish. Those trout thrive in the colder months...if freswater trout can survive..smallouth can in certain deep parts of suwanee and Appalachacola river...in Panhandle only
Awesome to hear something about this, the record is listed in a book I have but "unofficial due to florida not being a smallmouth state"
Enjoyed it. As I do your appearances on BTL
Thank you, Dave! I truly appreciate your kind words. -- Ken
Millican was catching some monster smallmouth somewhere a few months ago. I think it was Nebraska
Current California Smallmouth bass record is 9 lbs and 13 oz caught in 2007
. Anglers name is Harold Hardin (what are the odds?) who claimed that on his next cast after landing the record fish he hooked an even larger Smallmouth bass that broke his line taking his only " Charcoal "colored swimbait . There was also a old former Smallmouth bass record for California that was allegedly caught in Trapper Slough which runs along HWY 4 on the California Delta . I believe this was another case of misidentification of a LMB. While SMB do exist in the North Delta around the Sacramento and Mokelumne river areas I have never seen or heard of one caught this far south . Trapper slough is Land locked from the Delta waters .
kls, I'm going to have to look into this Hardin guy. That was the fish caught out of Pardee right? Thanks for watching and for commenting! Terry
@@thebigbasspodcast Correct that was at Pardee
I never knew any of this
I heard there were smallies in the st johns river.
That would be an question Ken would have to answer. I believe he said in one of our conversations that FL does not have any smallies. Maybe a rogue one from some bucket biologist...
No smallmouths here in the Sunshine State, William -- not a one! -- Ken
William...There was an article a couple years ago in BASSMASTER magazine featuring pro Derek Hudnall and saying something to the effect that his favorite place for smallmouth was the St. John's. I asked Derek about this, and he said that should have been written as the St. Lawrence river, ....a misquote or editor's mistake.
That was a great deep dive into Florida and fake smallmouth bass fishing. Quite fascinating.
Thanks David!!!
I remember an article or letter in bassmaster something like 20 years ago where people were catching double digit "smallmouth" in Florida. These fish were colored and visually looked like smallies. Genetic testing was the only way to prove they were/are largemouth. Wish I could name the specific issue
Texoma, now you're gonna send Ken and me on a scavenger hunt! Thanks for the comment and for supporting the show! Terry
I've caught bass in Hillsborough County Florida with a small mouth. Any reason this could happen? They look like a largemouth but they have a mouth like a smallmouth.
Ghostly Warrior, they are most likely some spotted bass strain, which have the same jaw structure as a smallie. Terry
@thebigbasspodcast that's interesting because I have caught some that look a little like a spot but didn't think we had them here.
Well fellows I hate to break Terri's heart, but I did pick up an excellent copy of Walter Harden's book last year including the papers he advertised for 25 cents and one of his business cards advertising his guiding services on Lake Apopka.
Terry and Ken will both be jealous!
Bill, between you and Ken, I have no tears left. I think you two are in cahoots to break me!
Bill, I for one, am happy for you! We can start a club -- you and me. "Guys who have stuff that Battisti covets"! LOL Happy New Year, Bill! -- Ken Duke
There is no way they dint know the difference between large and small mouth. Great show.
lroyson!!! Thank you sir!!!!
I could understand a biologist in the south way back then not recognizing a smallmouth because they had probably never seen one. There was no internet to spread information and pictures. So only going off scale counts a mistake could be made. But I also think someone from the north would immediately know the difference. So I would guess he intentionally took advantage of the biologists' mistake
Eric, I think the problem (as I tried to explain in the show) was that "smallmouth bass" was defined differently for a few decades. Sure, everyone (including Harden) could see that a northern SMB looked different than what he was catching in Florida, but the parameters for what was a SMB were different. If you fell within the proper scale count, etc., it was a SMB -- coloration, etc., did not matter. -- Ken
“Surprised” a double digit came from great lakes… Do your research on all the great lakes aside from superior… all capable off producing 10lb+ smallmouth and the world record will be caught within 10 years mark my words boys the bait and GOBIES have changed the game… look at tournament results…
Hi Zachary, Thank you for the kind words and for watching the channel! I don't think Ken or I believe the Great Lakes "Can't" produce a 10-pound smallie. The difference in growing one and catching that fish, are two different things. The Great Lakes have produced a few fish over 9 pounds. That's nearly 3 pounds off the world record. Until we start seeing multiple 10-pound fish coming from the Great Lakes, I still would consider them an outside chance.
One of the problems with the Great Lakes is their vast size and fact that most of the fish taken from them are caught offshore on huge flats and shoals. Like I said above, I don't discredit them from growing a 10 or possible world record, it's the odds that fish (or those fish) would ever be caught.
I personally hope the record is broken. And if it's broken, why not the Great Lakes! It would show the world how those fisheries have changed for the better over the last 50 years. Thanks again for the comment and the support! Terry
Sounds like harden was like Barry bonds he couldn't stand someone else getting all the press
LOL. So, do you think he knew he was catching largemouths over smallies?
There are a lot of folks catching perch in Texas 😂. They are what they tell you they are until someone sets you straight 😉
The tva will never produce a record too much pressure..now South Dakota has a chance
LOL. Now that's funny!
@@thebigbasspodcast Yes, we'll probably never produce one over 11-15, but could approach nine in the years to come, like Dworshak in Idaho.