HUNTINGDON, Tenn. — Jacob Bruener lives in east Texas and fishes trophy bass lakes like Rayburn and Toledo Bend, known to routinely produce largemouth weighing double-digit weights.
He never would have dreamed of catching his personal best on a small lake in west Tennessee.
That is exactly what happened on Day 1 of the B.A.S.S. Youth Nation Junior Championship.
Fishing on Carroll County Thousand Acre Lake, the teenager caught a largemouth weighing 11 pounds, 14 ounces. The current lake record weighs 9 pounds, 2 ounces.
The catch will break the record if certified by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
Bruener was fishing with teammate Austin Brewer and coach Albert Collins when the strike occurred at 12:30 p.m.
“We were just trying to catch something, get a fish in the boat,” said Bruener, 14, a student at Douglas High School.
“We hadn’t caught anything and had watched other boats catching fish.”
The looks turned the opposite direction when the bass came on board.
“Everyone around saw us bring it aboard and everybody went crazy,” added Bruener, whose previous personal best weighed 8 pounds.
He caught the fish on a 3/16-ounce Buckeye Lures Spot Remover Pro Model Jighead. The shaky-head style lure featured a black head with a watermelon red trick worm for added strike appeal.
Bruener paired the lure with a 7’ 2” Abu Garcia Vendetta rod with the brand’s Revo reel and 15-pound test Stren monofilament line.
Collins, a veteran tournament angler and former qualifier of the Bassmaster Classic, was impressed with the potential of the lake.
“In a few years, if managed well, this lake could be one of the top small bass for trophy lakes in the country.”