It seems fishing records are being broken everywhere you look lately. Maybe it’s because of better equipment, more effective resources or maybe the fish are just plain bigger these days. Whatever the reason, it’s awesome, and nobody knows that better than the man who just caught a new Washington state record largemouth bass weighing in at 12.53 pounds, Bill Evans.
Evans, who lives in Bothell – he recently moved with his wife from Ohio to be closer to their grandchildren – caught the master on Lake Bosworth near Marysville last Monday.
He was surprised at how much of a fight whatever was on the other end of his line was putting up when he first hooked her.
“She was too strong. I wasn’t expecting anything like that here,” said Evans.
“I couldn’t do anything with her. I couldn’t muscle her around,” he said. “I couldn’t make her go anywhere. All I could do was hold on.”
With his catch, he breaks a record which has stood since 1977, when Carl Pruitt reeled in one at 11.57 pounds, according to Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
“As soon as I set the hook, I knew it had to be a big one because the bottom pulled hard and it just wouldn’t quit,” Evans continued. “When she finally tried to jump, she could only get her head out of the water.”
The total measurements for Bill’s fish came in at 23 inches with a 22.5 inch girth.
