RAY SCOTT OUTDOORS
Presents
Short Casts & Backlashes
By Bob Cobb

LINE CLASS CHALLENGER – Chattanooga, Tennessee fisherman Anh Le realized he’d hooked a better than average size fish.   But, it was almost an hour later before he had near record proof.

 Using eight-pound test line, Le landed a smallmouth bass weighing 10-pounds, 6-ounces on certified scales.  According to IGFA records, his smallmouth from the Tennessee River is only two ounces off the 8-pound line class record.

 When first put on the scales at Jack’s Bait and Tackle, the fish hit 10-pounds, 10-ounces, according to Dan Cook, outdoor editor for the Chattanooga newspaper.  But, later on a grocery store’s certified scales the big smallmouth was scored at 10-6.

 In the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) record book, the 10-pound, 8-ounce smallmouth caught by Paul E. Beal from Dale Hallow Lake, KY-TN on April 14, 1986 is the 8-pound line class record holder.

 Le, who 23 years ago left war-torn Vietnam for the U.S., raced up and down the bank reportedly for an hour trying to tire the smallmouth.  “I thought I’d caught a drum,” he said.  “If there had been current, there is no way I could have brought it in.”