We all dream of catching a double-digit bass at some point in our lives—for many anglers, this magic mark is the pinnacle of bass fishing. There are several full-time professional anglers who haven’t had the good fortune of catching a 10-pound bass. But Keith Watkins’ catch on March 30, 2015 will forever be remembered as one of the most impressive catches in Georgia history.
According to our good friends at Georgia Outdoor News, the 51-year-old Douglasville, Ga. native was enjoying a birthday fishing trip with his close friend Stanley Elrod on a Coweta County lake when the monster bass bit his green pumpkin-colored Zoom Trick Worm rigged on a 3/8-ounce Gambler Giggy Head.
“Stanley was wearing me out,” Watkins said. “He said ‘Man, it’s your birthday. I want you to catch them.'”
Watkins noticed that his buddy was primarily casting towards the bank. In true bass fisherman fashion, the clever angler fired a cast across an adjacent point.
“It took me 20 minutes to get it in the net,” Watkins said. “This fish fought so hard. She went under the boat 5 times. It was almost a dead miracle that I got her in.”
In a desperate attempt to keep his 12-pound test Seaguar Senshi Monofilament line from breaking, the Georgia angler loosened his drag past the point of comfort. According to Watkins, he was simply trying to tire the bass.
“We’d seen her several times,” Watkins said. “The drag was so loose, you could have pulled it out with your breath. I finally wore her out and got her.”
The two fishing buddies immediately went to a Feed and Seed store in a small, nearby town and its owner served as the witness as the bass was weighed on certified scales.
The largemouth bass weighed 17.60 pounds and at the time of this article, it’s the heaviest bass to be caught in Georgia since 1987. Watkins seemed to be beside himself.
“It was a true spiritual moment for me and my Savior, Jesus Christ.”
For more information on the catch and more giant Georgia bass news, visit our friends at Georgia Outdoor News and follow them on Facebook. They post some awesome fishing and hunting photos throughout the entire year!
