Next Minnesota Largemouth Bass state record

[Minnesota Bass Angler]

Anyone have good lakes around the park rapids and crow wing area that have GIANT Bass? Looking to chase the next state record

[MN Fisher]

I dunno about giants, but there's lots of good lakes in the area that have decent size LMs.

 

I fished Lake George - north of Park Rapids on Highway 71 - back in the 80s and remember some of the guys getting good size bass out of it.

 

Other lakes in the area... http://www.minnesotalakes.net/hubbard_county_lakes.html

 

The state record LM came out of Auburn Lake which is in the TC Metro area.

[WRB]

8 lbs 15 oz, 2006 from Auburn lake, your looking for a 9 lb LMB, good luck,

Tom

[FCPhil]

55 minutes ago, WRB said:

8 lbs 15 oz, 2006 from Auburn lake, your looking for a 9 lb LMB, good luck,

Tom

It’s amazing how different size the state records and just bass in general are in different parts of the country. 

[drew4779]

I doubt that Ely, Minnesota is near the locations you've listed (I don't think it's near anywhere).  But, 20 years ago canoeing through the boundary waters, a buddy of mine caught a bass that was in the 8 - 10 lbs range.  She wasn't weighed, but it was the largest northern LM I've ever seen. 

[FryDog62]

There is great bass fishing in Northern Minn but with the shorter growing season I think the further South you go the better chances of a state record.  FWIW, the state record isn’t very likely in Minnetonka either - lots of fish but too much pressure to get much of anything over 4 pounds there..

[Deleted account]

11 hours ago, FCPhil said:

It’s amazing how different size the state records and just bass in general are in different parts of the country. 

In a northern state like that with a short growing season and cold winters, I'd be looking for a place with good forage and a WWD. Under 9 lbs sounds doable. I'm convinced there are DD bass swimming in more places than folk generally believe.

[NathanDLTH]

I found this sometime ago and can’t help but think that fish was pushing 9 if not maybe a little more. The potential is there I think. 

[gim]

That photo and article just REAK of sketchiness.  For starters the fish doesn't even look real.  It looks stone dead.  And of course he ate it.

 

Frydog's assessment is accurate.  The southern portion of the state has a longer growing season.  It may not have to be on a big, popular lake either.  The current state record LMB was taken from a smaller lake (Auburn).

[MN Fisher]

Auburn Lake (Carver County - twin cities metro area) - this would be considered southern MN

Acres:290.6 sq acres

Mean Depth:23.0 FT

Max Depth:84.0 FT

 

For comparison, the state record Smallmouth came from West Battle Lake - 8lb 0oz

West Battle Lake (Otter Tail County, east of Fergus Falls) - this would be considered central MN

Acres: 5,565.5 sq acres

Mean Depth: 0.0 FT

Max Depth: 108.0 FT

The chances of northern MN having a record Bass, large or small mouth, is fairly low. Bass do better in warmer climates, which is why 5#-6# are considered a good catch here where-as in FL, GA and other southern states, those would be considered a fair catch if not below average.

[rascalP]

Look for fertile lakes (murky, green).  These same types of lakes with a low population of bass may up your odds a bit.

[FryDog62]

On 1/19/2019 at 7:03 PM, MN Fisher said:

Auburn Lake (Carver County - twin cities metro area) - this would be considered southern MN

Acres:290.6 sq acres

Mean Depth:23.0 FT

Max Depth:84.0 FT

 

For comparison, the state record Smallmouth came from West Battle Lake - 8lb 0oz

West Battle Lake (Otter Tail County, east of Fergus Falls) - this would be considered central MN

 

Acres: 5,565.5 sq acres

Mean Depth: 0.0 FT

Max Depth: 108.0 FT

The chances of northern MN having a record Bass, large or small mouth, is fairly low. Bass do better in warmer climates, which is why 5#-6# are considered a good catch here where-as in FL, GA and other southern states, those would be considered a fair catch if not below average.

I’m going to go out on a limb here, but I’m pretty sure the Minnesota state record smallmouth caught in 1948 wasn’t 8 lbs.  No disrespect to the person and his descendants intended.

 

The fact is, people often didn’t really weigh, or accurately weigh fish in those days.  The length of the fish isn’t listed in the record books either.  

 

And think of many fishermen (probably me too ) that caught a fish that was 6 1/4 pounds (which is still huge btw) and by that night after a couple of Pfeiffers around the campfire it grew to 7 pounds... and by the time they got home Sunday night, they told all their friends and neighbors about the 8 pound monster they caught!

 

That makes the 8-15 Largemouth caught a few years ago even more credible to me... didn’t round up and left it wide open for someone to smash their record someday with a legit 9 pounder..

 

Just sayin’...

[gim]

On ‎1‎/‎23‎/‎2019 at 10:10 PM, FryDog62 said:

The fact is, people often didn’t really weigh, or accurately weigh fish in those days.  The length of the fish isn’t listed in the record books either.

The northern pike state record is REALLY sketchy.

[Krazyfish101]

These two fish were caught in northern Minnesota  the one in my  left hand  was 21 inches 5 1/4 pounds, the monster in my other hand  was 23 inches, had a girth of 18 inches, my digital scale I had in my tackle box  read the weight at 8.5 pounds  so there are monsters in northern Minnesota I caught these fish in 2008. Still to this day I have never seen a bass that could even compared to the big one in this picture.