Usually, if you trick a fish once, it gets a little wiser. Fool it twice, and you’re just showing off. But catching the exact same 7-pound smallmouth bass three separate times? That’s not just angling expertise; that’s basically a long-distance relationship. Washington fishing guide Chris Senyohl fell in love with a heavyweight bedding bass in Lake Sammamish, duping the aggressively hungry fish three times in less than two weeks using the exact same handmade rabbit-fur fly.
While the first two catches ended with bad photos and a realization that he was sitting on a potential world record, the third date was the charm. Armed with an official measuring board and a custom aquatic “photo box,” Senyohl finally got the perfect snapshots to prove the bass officially tied the IGFA all-tackle catch-and-release world record at a whopping 20.86 inches. The record-setting lady was released unharmed, and Senyohl has already spotted her since, promising to text her next spring when she’s a little bigger to see if she wants to break his record again.
You can read the full story and see the bass at Outdoor Life.
Montana's outdoor week, in your inbox at 7am Friday.