The best of Neshoba’s beasts

Ryan Porter caught this 14-pound largemouth bass on March 27th, 2010, a new lake record for Neshoba.

Back in 2010, amid a number of bass that tipped the scales over 10 pounds at Neshoba County Lake, angler Ryan Porter had the best — and possibly the shortest — fishing trip of his life on March 27.

While fishing the pre-spawn, Porter cast a green lizard to a bedding female, hooked it, boated it and immediately headed to the scales.

“I had been weighing a number of bass in the 9-, 10-, and 11-pound class, more than I could keep track of, when Porter came into the office and said he had one that I needed to weigh,” said Neshoba County Lake Manager Chuck Hazelwood. “The guy had only been on the lake for about 45 minutes. He had an aerated tank and he started pulling this huge fish out of it.

“I had to weigh it twice it was so big. When the scales finally settled on the second try, the fish was right on the 14 pound mark.”

Understandably, Porter took the fish to be mounted but Hazelwood is proud of the fact that most of the Neshoba anglers landing trophy bass return them to the lake to fight again. Because of the lake’s fish-friendly habitat, they keep growing.

The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks does not fertilize Neshoba County Lake, but, according to Hazelwood, the water in the lake maintains a dark hue throughout the year. He reports the lake has a lot of vegetation that grows during the summer, and then dies over the winter providing nutrients to the water. Feeder creeks also transverse through neighboring farm land prior to entering the lake, helping augment the water’s fertility.

“Having weighed a number of 10 pound bass over the week or so prior to Porter’s catch, I wasn’t expecting much,” said Hazelwood. “But he pulled that monster out and then I was just as excited as he was. It was a new lake record for Neshoba.”

About Phillip Gentry 403 Articles
Phillip Gentry is a freelance outdoor writer and photographer who says that if it swims, walks, hops, flies or crawls he’s usually not too far behind.

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