Major League Fishing has a new record largemouth bass thanks to pro angler Justin Atkins.
This is a tremendous testament to all of the past pro anglers and lifetime fishermen and women out there who, a long time ago, started a trend in bass fishing that stands the test of time: catch and release fishing.
One of bass fishing's most revered bodies of water—Lake Fork in Texas—just gave up a lunker largemouth to pro anger Justin Atkins, and now the fish is in the MLF record books at 10 pounds, eight ounces.
Here's how a pro angler takes on a record bass.
So it's true: even pro bass fishermen get nervous when they have a big fish on! Justin Atkins had to laugh at himself and admit some mistakes. He was trying to adjust his drag and was turning the knob the wrong way!
One of the things that we noticed right off of the bat was how cautious Atkins was when he first spotted the fish. Let it be a lesson for all of us.
Putting a great pair of Costa Del Mar polarized sunglasses to work in the low light conditions paid off, as the bass pro said in the video, "The water's got a little stain to it, it's cloudy, it's not good conditions to see, and I saw that fish."
When you see the prudent and watchful method that this bass pro used to play that hog, it was proof positive of what it takes to land a fish of that size and strength.
At about the 1:25 mark of the video he utters something catastrophic: "Oh My Gosh, my reel's broke!"
Maybe the best part (or the worst part, depending on your point of view) is that Atkins broke Jason Christie's record for the largest bass ever taken in MLF competition, and it happened just 24 hours later!
MLF quoted Atkins as saying, "I noticed that in the back of pockets where I'm fishing, these fish are either on a bush or a green clump of reeds. I knew I was going to try and look for them but I also was casting to where they are supposed to be. Today, it was bright enough to where I could see the fish using Sunrise Silver Costas before I even made a cast, so that helped a lot."
Atkins used a 7-foot Abu Garcia Fantasista Premier medium action spinning rod with an Abu Garcia Revo Premier spinning reel, lightweight 8-pound Berkley Fireline Ultra and a 10-pound fluorocarbon leader. The bait? It was a Berkley Bottom Hopper.
Big congratulations to Justin Atkins for breaking the MLF record and his own personal best!
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