Strader nets potential Tennessee spotted bass state record

Spring City, Tenn., native lands 6.43-pound spotted bass, challenges record books

BENTON, Tenn. – A serendipitous fishing trip while visiting a friend en route to the 2010 Forrest Wood Cup may have just landed FLW Tour pro Wesley Strader in the record books. Strader, a lifelong resident of Tennessee, hauled in a massive 6.43-pound spotted bass on the Ocoee River while fishing with friend and fellow FLW Outdoors angler Brad Peterson of Benton, Tenn. Although the record has yet to be officially certified, that fateful day on the water is one that Strader will never forget.

“I actually went down to Brad’s house to pick up a certain kind of worm that I’m going to be using (at the 2010 Forrest Wood Cup) on Lake Lanier,” said Strader. “When I got there I said, `You know, Brad, as many times as I’ve been down here, you’ve never taken me fishing on the river.’ He said, `We’ll, do you want to go now?’ And I said, `Sure.'”

So at about 1 p.m. on July 30, Strader and Peterson hit the open waters of the Ocoee River to blow off some steam before Strader had to hit the road to get in some valuable practice fishing on Lanier.

“We went up the river a little ways and stopped at a little ol’ bluff,” said Strader. “About five casts later, I hooked the fish. I knew it was big, but when it came up to the surface, I said, `Brad, I think I just may have caught a state record.’ It was one of the biggest spots I’d ever caught in my life.”

Realizing the magnitude of what had just transpired, Strader got a quick photo of the catch and made a beeline to Peterson’s house to verify the weight.

“Brad runs a couple of tournaments, so he’s got a really good scale. It’s pretty accurate,” said Strader. “Long story short, we put it on the scale and it weighed 6.51 pounds. Growing up in Tennessee, I knew what the old record was. As a kid, the record stayed at 5 pounds, 8 ounces (originally established Feb. 4, 1989) for years and was only just broken (Dec. 31, 2008). So I called the game warden and headed over to a local tackle store to make it official.”

Making it official

Once at the shop, the fish was again placed on the scales with the game warden present to verify the total weight. This time the fish weighed in at 6.43 pounds – slightly less than the previous weigh-in, but still well over the state record.

“Just to be clear, it hasn’t been certified yet,” said Strader. “The game warden gave me a bunch of paperwork to fill out, and once I do that, they’re going to take the fish in for some DNA tests. If it was a smallmouth or largemouth, they wouldn’t have to do that. But for spotted bass, they have to make sure it’s a 100-percent spotted bass strain and not crossed with a smallmouth. So the state record is pending at this point.”

The previous Tennessee spotted bass state record weighed in at 5 pounds, 14 ounces. So if Strader’s catch does hold up, he will have broken the previous mark by a whopping 8.88 ounces.

Of course with the 2010 Forrest Wood Cup – one of the most difficult, prestigious and lucrative bass championships in the nation – just days away, the last thing on Strader’s mind was a state record. However, the Tennessee native said he has no complaints.

“This whole state-record deal kind of derailed me a little bit. I really needed to be at Lake Lanier and had to spend about five or six hours (dealing) with a potential record,” said Strader. “But you could go a lifetime without ever catching a fish like that, so it’s worth it.”

Stader said that the biggest spotted bass he’d ever caught prior to the Ocoee River trip was a 6-pounder on Logan Martin Lake.

“But I’d never come close to catching a state record before,” Strader said. “I told Brad that if I don’t catch a fish at the Forrest Wood Cup, it wouldn’t matter if I get this state record. I’m just really pumped up right now. This made my week.”

As for the final paperwork and tests, those are scheduled to be evaluated Monday, Aug. 9. So where will the potentially record-breaking fish reside in the meantime?

“It’s in Brad’s freezer,” said Strader with a laugh.