New World Record Largemouth Bass Caught in Texas
Travis Olander 07.19.23
After months of waiting, Lea Anne Powell got official word from the International Game Fish Association (IGFA): In February, she caught the a World Record Largemouth Bass in the 12-pound line class – and she did it trolling the waters of what is now “America’s Best Bass Lake,” according to Bassmaster. Powell hooked the record-breaking Largie at O.H Ivie Lake, about an hour’s drive east of San Angelo, Texas, using nothing more than a simple spinner rod. A few selfies with the lunker wouldn’t suffice for the IGFA to call it a record. Powell explained the intensive process she had to go through to claim it.
“The process was fairly intensive. I had to go online, fill out a whole bunch of paper work and then I actually had to mail in a line sample of the line that was used to catch the fish,” said Powell. “All the paper work, photos and documentation that I have had to go through multiple panels and I believe internationally.”
According to Powell, it took around three months to receive confirmation from the IGFA that her prize catch was, indeed, record-setting. Powell added that her anticipation kept her on the phone with officials throughout the process.
“I submitted everything in March and it was official on June 23rd,” Powell said. “I had been driving them insane by calling. I’ve been very anxious you know, I wanted it. Squeaky wheel gets the grease.”
Powell’s World Record Largemouth Bass tipped the scales at 12 pounds, 3 ounces, making it the largest ever caught in the 12-pound line class. Her record replaces a Bass caught by Sarah Elizabeth Harris at Lake Baccarac, Mexico, in 2021. That fish weighed in at 9 pounds, 1 ounce. The lady angler said she had, in fact, caught the fish using 10-pound line, but the IGFA only categorizes record catches using 4-, 8-, 12-, and 16-pound classes.
Powell says she began fishing after her parents died in 2015. Her parents loved to fish and she found peace in the practice after her friends asked her to join them on a fishing trip. Powell says she continued pursuing the hobby thereafter. Powell wasn’t alone when she bagged her record catch in February. Her friend, Dalton Smith, owner of Dalton Smith Guide Service and a local guide for anglers who visit O.H. Ivie Lake, invited her on the fateful trip.
“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.
Part of Powell’s successful hunt came from a Livescope Smith brought with him on the trip.
The underwater sonogram provides the rough depth and location of fish, allowing anglers to dial in their target zones and increase their odds of getting bites.
“You can see the fish and 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.
On their second day of the trip, Smith used the Livescope to guide Powell’s casts to a particular hot spot on the lake.
“So I casted out about 50 feet from the boat and about 55 feet slightly to the left of where he was,” Powell said. “I was trying to learn this whole Livescope sonogram and I was like, ‘OK, I think I have a follower.’”
Powell said her friend didn’t believe the size of the Bass she hooked until she started fighting the mammoth in earnest.
“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.”
After getting the Bass topside, Powell knew they were in short on time and needed to quickly take the trophy fish to Elm Creek RV Park nearby, where an IGFA-certified scale could provide a reliable measurement to verify her new record.
“My friend told me about doing the records and everything and I had no idea it could be classed as such but it turns out it can,” said Powell.
Powell says she wants to encourage younger women anglers to get out on the water, as they could be the next to catch a record fish.
“I’m just trying to encourage more people to get out and fish,” Powell said. “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!”
Want to bag some lunkers yourself? Read our secrets to Bass fishing success.
