Brandon Wright, who usually goes fly-fishing, decided to try lake fishing with bait and proved himself adept by catching what turned out to be a state record for a largemouth bass, Montana’s sixth state record in less than nine months.
Fishing from shore at Lake Elmo, Wright used a piece of a nightcrawler and caught a 9.575-pound bass that broke the state record of 8.8 pounds that stood since 2009, as reported by the Billings Gazette. The previous record was caught at Noxon Rapids Reservoir by Darin Williams.
It was the first largemouth bass Wright had ever caught and he plans to have it mounted by a taxidermist, the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks reported on Facebook.
Wright had the fish weighed on a certified scale at Albertsons grocery store in Billings Heights, and FWP confirmed the species, along with its weight and length. The largemouth bass was 22.5-inches long.
Also on FTW Outdoors: Angler breaks 55-year-old brown trout record, calls it ‘next-level big’
Wright arrived at Lake Elmo at around 10 a.m. last Saturday and told the Billings Gazette he then sat back and started watching Tik Tok videos on his cellphone. Fifteen minutes later, the bass bit.
Also on FTW Outdoors: Angler’s mishap with snake takes big bite out of his pocketbook
Montana has been hot for producing state records lately. Recent record-breakers included a 32.05-pound Chinook salmon in August 2020 at Fort Peck Reservoir by Greg Haug, a 7.84-pound smallmouth bass in October 2020 at Fort Peck Reservoir by Theron Thompson, a 1.91-pound yellowhead bullhead in December 2020 at Tongue River Reservoir by Roberta Legge, a 32.43-pound brown trout in February in the Marias River by Robbie Dockter and a 3.42-pound longnose sucker in March in the Missouri River by Jacob Bernhardt.
Photo courtesy of the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.