The International Game Fish Association, one of the organizations which maintain world records for both freshwater and saltwater game fishes, has reinstated a world record for the biggest smallmouth bass ever caught.
Ron Fox, Asst. Director for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, has worked intensively on this case since it first came under scrutiny in 1996. That's when IGFA and the National Freshwater Hall of Fame both rescinded the world record smallmouth taken by D.L. Hayes in 1955 from Dale Hollow Lake.
The record was rescinded when an official affidavit was uncovered alleging the D.L. Hayes fish had been stuffed with metal to increase its weight.
Fox began an investigation that would rival any murder investigation. It took a while, but he uncovered massive documentation and biological evidence, that proved the D.L. Hayes fish, and its weight, was legitimate.
When presented with Fox's investigation, the National Freshwater Hall of Fame quickly reinstated the Hayes fish as the World Record Smallmouth. The IGFA however, balked.
That is until December 13 when the group formally announced that they too are reinstating the Hayes fish as their official world record.
Fox was not available when the announcement came out, however TWRA Fisheries Chief Bill Reeves said, "Ron conducted a really thorough investigation and has been trying hard to get IGFA to reconsider. At first they wouldn't talk to him about it, but over time he finally got an audience with them."
Reeves said that Fox finally got the chance to meet with IGFA officials in recent months and present his own comprehensive documents and investigation.
"I would have to assume they were just as impressed with it as we were," said Reeves.
In their official release, IGFA made no mention of TWRA or Ron Fox. Jason Schratwieser, IGFA Conservation Director, said only, "recent documentation, including polygraph results, was supplied to the IGFA indicating that David Hayes’ fish was never tampered with.
“Further investigation also found that the dimensions of Hayes’ fish would make it very unlikely to weigh 8 lb 15 oz when you compare it to the previous (Gorman’s) All-Tackle fish’s dimensions of 26 ¼ inches in length and 21 ½ inches in girth. Based on this information, the IGFA decided to reinstate David Hayes’ catch as the All-Tackle smallmouth bass record.”
Reeves is pleased that IGFA finally came around.
"Yea it's a good thing... it was a legitimate record to begin with."
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ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND While fishing Dale Hollow Lake on the Tennessee/Kentucky line, July 8, 1955, David Hayes, Litchfield, Ky., caught the biggest smallmouth bass of his life. He brought it to a nearby marina which weighed the catch at 11 lb 15 oz and measured it at 27 inches long with a 21 2/3 inch girth.
Hayes entered the fish for a record with Field & Stream magazine which, at the time, was the keeper of freshwater records. Field & Stream granted Hayes’ fish a record for the heaviest smallmouth bass ever taken on rod and reel, and in 1978, when the IGFA took over freshwater record keeping from Field & Stream, it was then granted a world all-tackle record by the IGFA.
On August 17, 1955, unbeknownst to Field & Stream or the IGFA, Raymond Barlow submitted an affidavit to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stating that Hayes’ fish had only weighed 8 lb 15 oz and that he had stuffed three pounds of metal in the fishes’ mouth and stomach to make it a record. It wasn’t until 40 years later when the affidavit was uncovered that the IGFA was contacted and informed about the sworn statement.
“The IGFA’s policy has always been to investigate standing records when proof is brought forward challenging its legitimacy,” said Jason Schratwieser, IGFA Conservation Director. “After reviewing the affidavit, the IGFA in 1996 rescinded Hayes’ record and a 10 lb 14 oz smallmouth caught by John Gorman in 1969, also on Dale Hollow Lake, was recognized as the new IGFA All-Tackle record.
Now however, in the face of evidence first made available six years ago, Schratwieser said the IGFA wishes to congratulate Mr. Hayes on a true catch of a lifetime and welcomes him back to his rightful place in the IGFA World Records.
The decision will be recognized in the IGFA’s forthcoming 2006 World Record Game Fishes annual released worldwide.