Keith Bryan, president of Powell Rods, a Novato, Calif. based fishing rod manufacturer received notice today from the IGFA that his Feb. 22, 2014 catch of a 10.48-pound spotted bass from New Melones Reservoir has been declared the new All-Tackle World Record, and 8-pound Test Line-Class Record for the species.
Bryan was competing in a two-day, California Tournament Trail (CTT) Pro-Am event, an event that he eventually won. The record catch occurred on the first day of the event.
“I am speechless at this moment,” Bryan said. “I already felt like I had lived a dream by winning a Pro-Am event that day, but to have that fish be declared a world record is something I would have never dreamed of.”
Bryan caught the bass using a wacky rigged green pumpkin purple and copper flake (color 330) five-inch Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits Senko in approximately 10 feet of water. Bryan inserted a 3/32-ounce Lunker City Nail Weight in the nose and rigged it on a No. 2 Gamakatsu Wide Gap Weedless Finesse Hook. He threw the rig on a 6103mef Powell Inferno spinning rod and size 3000 Shimano Sahara reel filled with eight-pound-test Power Pro braided line, tipped with a leader of 8-pound test Seaguar Invizx fluorocarbon.
“I am so proud and humbled at the same time by this notification and I am absolutely beside myself with joy,” Bryan exclaimed. “I think it is a great thing for the entire Northern California fishing community and for California as a whole that the world record was once again broken in our state; I’m just felling so blessed that I get to be a part of it.”
Bryan remains realistic about how long his record will stand. “As great a spotted bass fishery as the state of California has become, I’m certain that this record will fall again soon,” he said. “But, to have held this record for even one day is a dream, and an accomplishment that any angler should be proud of; it is something that I can say for the rest of my life, that I caught a World Record spotted bass. This has truly been a dream come true.”
