Calling Panther lake record broken twice in a week

Crystal Springs' James Allen gets ribbed for using live bait during the spring, but that technique helped him catch a Calling Panther Lake record bass last week.

When James Allen of Crystal Springs headed to Calling Panther Lake on Feb. 26, he had his sights set on landing a lunker largemouth. And since his neighbor, David Howell had just broken the old lake record the previous weekend with a 27 ½-inch-long, 14-pound, 1-ounce trophy Allen knew that the time was right to be wetting his line in the waters of the lake near his home.

Incredibly, David Howell also held the old lake record, a 13-pound, 4-ounce sow caught back on Feb. 2, 2009.

David Howell’s record-breaking fish can be seen on our bass-fishing forum.

A diehard tournament bass angler, Allen took advantage of an off weekend on the tournament trail to spend the morning fishing with his longtime friend John Madden of nearby Hazlehurst. Having recently lost all 10 of his tournament rod-and-reel combos in a boating accident in Arkansas, Allen was anxious to try out his new Shimano Curado on one of the giant largemouths that Calling Panther Lake is known for producing.

But instead of the artificial lures he is required to use in bass tournaments, Allen decided to tie on a 7-inch shiner for bait. After all, a large shiner had worked pretty well for his friend Howell the previous Sunday.

“I only fish three or four weekends a year with live bait,” Allen said. “And I always catch a lot of flak from my fellow tournament anglers for not using artificial lures, but it is hard to argue with success.”

Allen and his friend targeted a creek channel that dropped off quickly from 8 to 16 feet. He hoped to find a few big fish following the deep banks. However, the morning bite was very slow.

Finally, after a few hours of hard fishing, an 11 ½-pounder swallowed Allen’s big shiner. After a fierce battle, Allen was able to land the big fish, weigh it on a small set of scales he keeps in his boat and return it unharmed back into the lake.

“That one nice fish had made the trip worthwhile,” Allen said. “I had gotten to try out my new reel on a double-digit largemouth.

“And to tell the truth, I would have been happy even if that had been the only fish I had caught that morning.”

But that wouldn’t be the only giant largemouth Allen would catch that Saturday morning.

It wasn’t long before Allen felt a sharp tug on his line as another big bass engulfed his over-sized shiner. Allen set the hook hard, and the fight was on. Having caught several 10-pounders over the years, Allen figured the bass on the other end of his line was about the size of the one he had just released.

“Everything happened so fast,” Allen recalled. “I didn’t realize just how big she was until I got her in the boat. I must have been in shock, because I couldn’t even talk for several minutes.

“In all my years of bass fishing, I had never caught a largemouth anywhere near that size.”

Allen’s 26 3/4-inch-long bucket mouth would later tip the scales at 15 pounds, 4 ounces, shattering David Howell’s newest week-old lake record by over a pound. However, unlike Howell’s record fish, which was released back into the lake, Allen’s giant bass had been foul-hooked and would not survive.

“I had every intention of releasing the big fish, but the lake manager told me that she wouldn’t make it if I turned her back,” Allen explained. “I figured she would be better off displayed on the wall of my den than ending up as turtle food, so I took her on to the taxidermist.”

As if an omen, David Howell’s cousin, George Howell, had happened upon a foul-hooked monster bass while fishing at Calling Panther the previous Monday. Realizing that the injured fish would not survive, George Howell netted the massive fish and turned it into the lake manager. This bass weighed in at 15 pounds 3ounces, only 1 ounce shy of Allen’s lake record. Forman said the George Howell fish will be mounted for display.

George Howell’s record-breaking fish can be seen on our bass-fishing forum.

While it was disappointing to lose two 15-pound Calling Panther largemouths in less than a week, Allen remained optimistic that there is an abundant supply of giant largemouths lurking the depths of this trophy bass lake.

How long will James Allen’s record largemouth stand? That is anyone’s guess, but Allen is certain the record will be broken in the near future.

In fact, the 67-year-old angler has already been back on Calling Panther trying to beat his own record. And on his latest outing, he had two Calling Panther lunkers to break his 30-pound test braided line.

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