A NY state record: CNY angler catches huge, 8 lb. smallmouth bass on Cayuga Lake
Thomas Russell of Albion set a New York state record yesterday for smallmouth bass with this 8-pound, 5.8-ounce smallie he caught on Cayuga Lake, beating the previous state record by almost two ounces.
By Steve Featherstone | sfeatherstone@syracuse.com
Thomas Russell, of Albion, caught a new state record smallmouth bass at Cayuga Lake. The super smallie weighed 8 pounds, 5.8 ounces, beating the previous state record smallmouth by almost two ounces.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has yet to officially announce the record, but we spoke to Russell earlier today after officials certified the scale used to weigh his fish.
“Unbelievable man,” Russell said. “When I first hit him I was like, ‘I think we got a giant!’ ”
Russell and his cousin, Eric Sullivan, were competing in the Finger Lakes Open trail bass tournament. Like most competitive anglers, Russell declined to give details that might give away the location of his honey hole, but he did say that he and Sullivan had caught “numerous” good-sized smallmouth before the lunker came along.
“By midday we were sitting on a real nice bag of smallmouth bass,” said Russell. At around 11 a.m., he flipped a drop shot baited with a Berkley MaxScent flatnose minnow into 8-10 feet of water.
“I was using 12 pound test line, so it was just a real good fight,” Russell said. “He come up, jumped a couple of times, and you get all nervous when you see the size of him, and see him jumping. It was spectacular. Gave me the fight of a lifetime for sure.”