While on a guided fishing trip, Lea Anne Powell may have caught a world record largemouth bass in her line class.
Powell said in a interview that her fishing journey began after her parents passed away. After their passing, she carried on their tradition by diving into the world of fishing.
“I lost both of my parents in 2015 and I actually found peace within fishing. A friend of mine kept asking me to come fish and I had a natural knack for it and it just stuck,” said Powell.
In the 5 years since then, Powell has been heavily involved in the tournament trails, but nothing prepared her for the fishing trip she took at the end of February.
As a fishing guide at O.H. Ivie Lake near San Angelo, Dalton Smith, who owns Dalton Smith Guide Service, invited Powell out to go fishing while he had a few days off. On the first day of their trip, Smith used Livescope as an underwater sonogram to help anglers determine what fish were big and what fish weren’t.
“They’re doing all this research and you can see the fish. You can tell what’s big and you can tell what’s small and we got into this area where [Smith] was seeing a bunch of big fish,” said Powell. “I casted out and I caught a 10.58 pound [fish].”
At the time, Powell said that was her personal record, but then came the next day.
They went out again the following morning, with Smith telling Powell to cast in the same area as him. Powell said she was still figuring out how to use the Livescope to locate bigger fish.
Powell said, He casted out about 50 feet from the boat and about 55 feet slightly to the left of where he was. “I was trying to learn how to use the Livescope sonogram.”
Initially, Smith didn’t believe her, but once she hooked the fish, they both realized they had a battle ahead of them.
“Once I set the hook he was like, ‘oh my God, you caught a giant’. But what was crazy is we were both freaking out because it was hooked 45 feet from the boat and 15 feet down on 10-pound line with a spinning rod,” said Powell. “Which if anybody knows fishing at all, that’s a very hectic situation and anytime I would get her close to the boat, she would start taking off and kept nosing down so I was having to adjust the drag when she would take off running.”
As soon as they caught the fish, they knew they needed to quickly take it to the Elm Creek RV Park and Gas Station nearby, which has an International Game Fish Association (IGFA) certified scale.
“She was 12 pounds 3 ounces, the biggest fish ever! Before I went to O.H. Ivie with Dalton, I literally had only caught a 7 pound 8 ounce largemouth. And I was like, cool, if I get an 8 pounder I’m happy.” said Powell. “But I broke my personal best twice in under 17 hours.”
There are different line classes within the IGFA, such as 4, 8, 12 and 16-pound line classes. Powell’s fish was caught on a 10-pound Seaguar Red Label line, but Powell shared, “the way the line actually tests, it actually tests up to 12 pounds.”
According to her, her application is still pending, and she discussed what goes into judging a fish.
“It is still pending. You have to have witnesses, you have to have proof of what it was caught on, rod and reel make and then you also have to submit a line sample into IGFA,” Powell said. “Once it goes in to the IGFA they will actually go through and test the line and make sure it was legitimately up to 12 pounds and then it will go through a panel internationally and then once that’s done, I’ll know.”
She shared that she has been working closely with them and that they just tested the line last week, so she is still awaiting an official response.
“I’ve been working with them really closely because I’m really anxious I’m like ‘I hope I get it’. So, fingers crossed. It is still pending but from what I was told it has been a very long time since they’ve had a nice fish like that go across their desk.”
Powell said her fish is going for “a female record for the 12 pound line class for largemouth bass.”
Powell wanted to share a few words with lady anglers who might feel they don’t fit the mold of a traditional angler.
“I’ve had so much discouragement being a lady angler and I don’t let that stop me. For every no I’m getting told and every word of discouragement, it pushes me and drives me to go harder and go faster and deeper into my tournaments. You can’t make a record, you can’t catch a fish unless you have a line in the water and do what you can to not let any negativity get you down. Turn those negatives into positives and let them motivate you to get out there and fish and just catch ’em up!”
Sources: Myhighplains
