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Challenged record reinstated
IGFA restores 50-year-old smallmouth bass record


David Hayes of Litchfield, Ky., reeled in the world record
smallmouth bass in 1955. It weighed nearly 12 pounds.
Photo Courtesy of the International Game Fish Association


From IGFA News Release

A search through documents up to 50 years old has given new life to the world record for smallmouth bass.

The International Game Fish Association, which maintains world records for freshwater and saltwater game fishes, has reinstated a record for the biggest smallmouth bass ever caught, the Dania Beach, Fla.-based nonprofit organization said in a news release on Monday. The record had been rescinded when a 1955 document discovered in 1996 challenged the legitimacy of the record.

The tale of the big fish begain July 8, 1955, on Dale Hollow Lake on the Tennessee-Kentucky line. David Hayes of Litchfield, Ky., caught a huge smallmouth and had it weighed a nearby marina. The fish 11 pounds, 15 ounces and and measured 27 inches long with a 21 2/3-inch girth.

Hayes entered the fish for a record with Field & Stream magazine which, at the time, was the keeper of freshwater records. Field & Stream granted Hayes' fish a record for the heaviest smallmouth bass ever taken on rod and reel. In 1978, the IGFA took over freshwater record-keeping from Field & Stream, and Hayes' fish was granted a world all-tackle record by the IGFA.

Unbeknown to Field & Stream or the IGFA, Raymond Barlow on Aug. 17, 1955, submitted an affidavit to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stating that Hayes' fish had weighed 8 pounds, 15 ounces and that he (Barlow) had stuffed three pounds of metal in the fish's mouth and stomach to make it a record. It wasn't until 40 years later when the affidavit was uncovered that the IGFA was contacted and informed about the sworn statement.

"The IGFA's policy has always been to investigate standing records when proof is brought forward challenging its legitimacy," said Jason Schratwieser, IGFA's conservation director.

After reviewing the affidavit, the IGFA in 1996 rescinded Hayes' record and a 10-pound, 14-ounce smallmouth caught by John Gorman in 1969, also on Dale Hollow Lake, was recognized as the new IGFA All-Tackle record.

However, Schratwieser said, recent documentation, including polygraph results, was supplied to the IGFA indicating that David Hayes' fish was never tampered with.

"Further investigation also found that the dimensions of Hayes' fish would make it very unlikely to weigh 8 pounds, 15 ounces when you compare it to the previous [Gorman's] all-tackle fish's dimensions of 26 inches in length and 21 inches in girth," Schratwieser said. "Based on this information, the IGFA decided to reinstate David Hayes' catch as the All-Tackle smallmouth bass record."

The decision will be recognized in the IGFA's 2006 World Record Game Fishes annual released worldwide.

Founded in 1939, the IGFA is a nonprofit organization that promotes the conservation of game fish and of responsible, ethical angling practices through science, education, rule making and record keeping.
Learn more at www.igfa.org.
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~Jeff~

[Todd]

Thanks for the update Jeff...

This fish is a perfect example of what someone goes through when they catch or shoot a world class animal. Every Tom, Dick & Harry comes out of the wood work with a "story" about how it was poached, netted, or weighted down to reach it's record size.

I have been hearing stories about this fish for 20 years. Of course none of te people telling the story know the guy, but everyone has a cousin that was there.
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