On Friday the 13th, as anglers began practice for the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro on South Carolina’s Lake Hartwell, Gabe Keen was back in Tennessee ready to make a little history of his own.
On Lake Chickamauga, Keen landed a giant largemouth bass that weighed 15.20 pounds on certified scales. It eclipsed the previous state record of 14 pounds, 8 ounces, which was caught from Sugar Creek in Lawrence County and had stood since 1954.
Various news reports say Keen was using an A-Rig during the morning hours on the middle section of Chickamauga. A-Rigs are legal in Tennessee waters, but they must be modified to use only three hooks.
“I didn’t realize how big the fish was until I got it in the boat and weighed on my scales,” Keen told wrcbtv.com in Tennessee. “When I saw 15 pounds, 3 ounces on my scales I started shaking all over, and that’s when I knew I had just caught the potential state-record bass.”
Keen is a history teacher at Campbell County High School and coach for the school’s bass fishing team.
