New PB Largemouth for MN

[WatterBoy]

September 18 - 12:15 p.m. - We were in 5' of water, casting into 3.5' with sparse cover. I was using my typical "Zoomie" (Zoom speed worm with paddletail pinched off) in Watermelon Candy Red color, trying to land my 20th fish of the morning before we headed back to the cabin for lunch. At that point my PB Largemouth in MN was 5lb 2oz and my best on this lake, out of almost 3,000 LM, was 5lb 1oz. The next thing you know, I am battling a good LM that I figured was going to be my first 4lb LM of the year. My fishing buddy and I got to see the whole fight play out right in front of us since the water clarity on this lake is well over 10'. The only real challenge was getting it out of some light weeds right after I hooked into it and then out of some lily pads right by the boat. With those challenges met, we got it into the boat and couldn't believe how big it was -- 20.5" length, 16.0" girth and 6lb 5oz! As a frame of reference, the state record here is only 8lb 15oz. This was the third 6-pounder of my life, having caught a 6lb 9oz and 6lb 0oz in Iowa five years ago. Maybe I can catch it again next year and set a new overall PB.