Four months after catching the largemouth bass of a lifetime, Lea Anne Powell can now officially say she is a world-record holder.
While fishing with a friend who is a fishing guide, Powell caught a 12-pound largemouth bass out of O.H. Ivie Lake in Texas on Feb. 28, and she confirmed to KETK on Tuesday that the International Game Fish Association verified it as a 12-pound line-class world record in the women’s category.
“I submitted everything in March and it was official on June 23rd,” Powell told KETK. “I had been driving them insane by calling. I’ve been very anxious you know, I wanted it. Squeaky wheel gets the grease.”
Powell caught the bass on 10-pound Seaguar Red Label Line. But she said, “The way that line actually tests, it actually tests up to 12 pounds.”
It should be noted, though, that the IGFA doesn’t have a 10-pound line class. It has 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16 and 20.
The weight of the previous record was unclear. Powell’s previous best was a 7½-pounder.
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“The process [of submitting the fish for record consideration] was fairly intensive,” Powell told KETK. “I had to go online, fill out a whole bunch of paper work and then I actually had to mail in a line sample of the line that was used to catch the fish. All the paper work, photos and documentation that I have had to go through multiple panels and I believe internationally.”
Powell was fishing with Dalton Smith, owner of Dalton Smith Guide Service who had a few days off and invited her to go fishing, a sport she took up eight years ago.
“I lost both of my parents in 2015 and I actually found peace within fishing,” Powell told KETK. “A friend of mine kept asking me to come fish and I had a natural knack for it and it just stuck.”
Photos courtesy of Lea Anne Powell.
