Story by Ken Duke
If you look to the International Game Fish Association or Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame record books, you’ll see that the current world record smallmouth bass weighed 11 pounds, 15 ounces and was caught by David Hayes in 1955 from Dale Hollow Lake.
But did you know that the world record smallmouth was once a 14 pounder from Florida?
That’s right … Florida.
And before the 14 pounder, the previous record was nearly 13 pounds … also from Florida. And there was reportedly a 14-08 from Florida in 1942 that was never given world record status.
What’s up with that … and what happened to all the giant brown bass from the Sunshine State?
Florida’s Smallmouth History
Before you say, “There are no smallmouths in Florida,” you should know that smallmouths were stocked in Lake County (not far from Orlando) in 1908. They were stocked in lakes near Tallahassee in 1910 and in waters near Tampa in 1930, so there most definitely smallmouth bass in Florida, and there were serious efforts to put them there.
And once there, reports of giant smallmouths followed, including a 12-12 in 1931, a 14 pounder in 1932, and that 14-08 in 1942. All of them were much bigger, much heavier than the current world record.
So, what’s the deal?
Ultimately, it all boils down to this: Sometimes a “smallmouth bass” is not a “smallmouth bass” at all.
King of the Bronzeback Trophy Hunters
Before we get into what is a “smallmouth,” I want you to meet Walter Harden, an avid brown bass chaser from Everson, Pennsylvania. Harden was born there in 1904 and got into bass fishing in his early 20s. In the summer and fall, he ran a barbecue stand in Pennsylvania. In the winter and spring, he was a fishing guide in Central Florida.
To say that Harden was a successful Florida smallmouth angler would be akin to saying that Michael Jordan was pretty good at basketball. Harden was the best of the best and he had the numbers and photos to prove it. If you don’t believe me, you can read his book, How to Catch World’s Record Bass (1936), in which he writes, “I … have caught more small mouth bass over 9 lbs. than anyone in the world.”
Bold, yes, but the man had pictures of some mighty big bass, including a 12-12 that measured 29 inches long and 20 1/2 inches in girth. It was a world record, and he caught it in Central Florida in 1931.
A year later, Harden reset the world record for smallmouth with a 14 pounder, also from Central Florida. He parlayed his lunker legacy into the book and a couple of lures that he helped design for Heddon—the Harden Star and Harden Whiz.
Harden was the brightest star in the bronzeback firmament, but if you were to look at a photo of him with one of his record catches, something would invariably jump out at you.
Those smallmouths looked a lot like largemouths.
Controversy
Whatever they may have looked like, they met the scientific standards of “smallmouth bass,” and smallmouths had certainly been stocked in Florida waters … multiple times throughout the decades.
But that didn’t explain how giant brown bass were showing up in lakes that had never been stocked with smallmouths? How did they get there?
A couple of possibilities presented themselves. First, there was “bucket biology,” where well-meaning anglers load up some fish and redistribute them in places they previously did not inhabit. It happens all the time.
Then there was the theory of an Episcopal minister who maintained that all Florida lakes are connected underground, and this allowed the smallmouths to travel freely from one body of water to another without interference, authorization, or detection. If he was right, giant Florida smallmouth could be popping up in a lake near you—or me—very soon.
We’ll solve Florida’s smallmouth mystery in Part 2.
