https://www.bassmaster.com/news/new-largemouth-bass-record-set-arkansas
On 2 March 1976, Aaron Mardis of Memphis landed a 16.4 pound fish on Mallard Lake near Manila in Mississippi County, Arkansas. Yesterday Paul Crowder of Forrest City set the new record on Lake Dunn near Wynne with a 16.5 pounder. The fish measured 26.5 inches in length and had a girth of 22.75 inches.
Crowder broke the record using a plastic 6 inch tequila sunrise Mann's jelly worm with a bullet sinker and plastic rattle on an Enigma rod and reel combo loaded with Trilene 14 pound test line. Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Fisheries Biologist Lee Holt certified the fish on a certified scale at Hayes Market in Wynne. The record breaker was Crowder's only catch of the day and he estimated that it took him around eight minutes to land the fish. "I didn't have a net, so it took me five or six tries before I was able to lip it and get in the boat," he explained.
Crowder said that he had been fishing all day for catfish but had been unable to make a catch so he switched things up to add some bass fishing. "I made a cast and set the rod down to take a look at my catfish rods when I noticed the rod was just about out of the boat," he said. "I was able to grab it just before it went out of the boat," he added.
On 2 March 1976, Aaron Mardis of Memphis landed a 16.4 pound fish on Mallard Lake near Manila in Mississippi County, Arkansas. Yesterday Paul Crowder of Forrest City set the new record on Lake Dunn near Wynne with a 16.5 pounder. The fish measured 26.5 inches in length and had a girth of 22.75 inches.
Crowder broke the record using a plastic 6 inch tequila sunrise Mann's jelly worm with a bullet sinker and plastic rattle on an Enigma rod and reel combo loaded with Trilene 14 pound test line. Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Fisheries Biologist Lee Holt certified the fish on a certified scale at Hayes Market in Wynne. The record breaker was Crowder's only catch of the day and he estimated that it took him around eight minutes to land the fish. "I didn't have a net, so it took me five or six tries before I was able to lip it and get in the boat," he explained.
Crowder said that he had been fishing all day for catfish but had been unable to make a catch so he switched things up to add some bass fishing. "I made a cast and set the rod down to take a look at my catfish rods when I noticed the rod was just about out of the boat," he said. "I was able to grab it just before it went out of the boat," he added.