The 17.34-pound Davis Lake bass could be a precursor to more big fish
When he caught a 17.34-pound bass Jan. 4 at Davis Lake, Jeff Foster did more than simply post the second-largest largemouth ever reported in Mississippi. He showed conclusively that Anthony Denny’s state record of 18.15 pounds is vulnerable.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt about that whatsoever,” said Ron Garavelli, the chief of fisheries for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. “That fish right there could have — no, make that would have — broken the record had it been caught a couple of months later when it was full of eggs.
“We’re only talking about .8 of a pound difference between 17.34 and 18.15, so yeah, fully loaded with eggs it would have been the record.”
And there’s this, too.
Had Foster’s bass eaten one of the many of thousands of stunted crappie swimming in the 200-acre National Forest Service lake in Northeast Mississippi before being caught, that may have been enough to push it past the record. It is that close.
“That’s true,” said Rick Dillard, a biologist with the U.S. Forest Service who has helped develop the Davis Lake fishery. “We have a problem with crappie being over populated, and that could very well be a reason why we’ve developed such a trophy bass fishery. There is an abundance of 8- and 9-inch crappie in the lake that those big bass can make use of.
“If that bass either had one it had just eaten or even a partially digested one in its system, then it could have broken the record.”
Put together the possibility of a big female filled with eggs and a recently eaten meal and there can be no doubt it is possible, if not at Davis or at one of a handful of big bass lakes.
Back in December, at the approach of the 20th anniversary of Denny’s New Year’s Eve catch of 1992, Mississippi Sportsman magazine discussed the possibility of a state record bass being caught. Two lakes were mentioned as likely candidates; Davis Lake was not one of them.
My mistake.
“Had you asked me, I would have told you that Davis Lake would be one of the top,” Dillard said. “We’ve had quite a run on big bass the last few years, so I thought it was possible that we could grow a really, really big bass.”
State wildlife officials helped stock Davis Lake after it was drained and renovated in 2000. The MDWFP supplied the Florida bass that were put in the lake that year.
“If that fish was one of the original bass in that stocking, that would make it 12 years old going on 13,” Dillard said. “That’s pushing the lifespan, but it is not totally out of the question. It could just have easily been spawned in the lake a year or two later.”
If not at Davis, then the likely source of a new state record becomes one of two MDWFP lakes in a similar timeline from either an original Florida bass stocking or a restocking, or one of the many well-managed private subdivision lakes located throughout the state.
Public lakes have dominated the record books, especially those that have gone through renovation and restocking nearly a decade before.
The two public holes are Neshoba County Lake near Philadelphia, which was restocked with Florida bass in 2004, and Calling Panther Lake near Crystal Springs, which was stocked in 2002. Florida bass from the stockings are hitting their peak sizes. Neshoba has produced fish over 14 pounds and Calling Panther over 15.
It is conceivable that either or both of the two are home to fish big enough that, if caught under the right condition and timing, could top 18 pounds and rewrite Mississippi’s record book.
My gut feeling has always been that it is inevitable, and Foster’s catch does nothing but increase those expectations.
Good luck, and keep casting.
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Got a story to share about fishing and hunting, contact Bobby Cleveland at bobbyc7754@yahoo.com. Some stories — photos are required — will be selected to run on Ms-Sportsman.com.
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