Ask most hardcore bass anglers about the Tennessee State Record Largemouth, and most will be able to tell you it weighed 14 lbs. 8 ounces.
Ask those anglers who caught Tennessee's state record or when, and many will know that it was taken by a man named Louge Barnett in 1954 (Oct. 17, to be specific).
Ask them where it was caught and some will know that according to the official record-keepers, it was captured in a place called Sugar Creek.
Ask the same anglers, "Where is Sugar Creek," and chances are you'll get a lot of blank stares… even from the official record-keepers.
"It seems that no one that I've contacted knows the specifics on the record largemouth bass except what appears on the list," said Bobby Wilson, Assistant Chief of Fisheries for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
So even the official record-keepers don't have the records. "Our records only go back to around 1965 and even then they are not complete," said Wilson.
Just to avoid some confusion, many anglers know that there is a Sugar Creek on the north end of Chickamauga Lake. It's not a major creek, but a Sugar Creek nonetheless. Wilson says that is definitely NOT the area where the record largemouth was taken.
Wilson has been working hard to try to figure it out. I first asked him about it several weeks ago and he's been doing some sleuthing. He's spoken with several of the Tennessee Fisheries Biologists who have been around for several decades but he says none are exactly sure where the Sugar Creek in question is, but they know it's not the one on Chickamauga.
Wilson said, "I spoke with Anders Myhr, John Conder, Hudson Nichols, and Wayne Pollock (all current or former TWRA biologists) about the record and none are completely sure about exactly where the fish was caught. The prevailing theory is that it was caught in Lawrence County from a pond or small lake near Sugar Creek."
Working on that theory, Wilson solicited some help from the Lawrence County library archives. He said, "they searched their records and looked at old newspaper clippings from around October 1954 and came up with nothing."
But Wilson says he's not stopping there. "My next step is to have the local newspaper in Lawrenceburg run a story asking for information about the record bass, and maybe a close friend or family member of Louge Barnett will come forward with the needed information."
If that fails, Wilson says he has one last resort.
"If that doesn't work I guess the only thing we can hope for is for someone else to break the record."
Don't think it's not possible. Donnie Hudson doesn't. He caught a 14-pound-plus bass in Alabama's Guntersville Lake last March.
Oh sure, Guntersville is NOT Chickamauga… but TWRA and local anglers have been working hard stocking Florida bass fingerlings in Chickamauga Lake in recent years. And the fact is, nobody knows where it might lead?
Send E-MAIL to Richard Simms if you know anything about the Tennessee State record Largemouth.
Donnie Hudson knows exactly where he caught this monster bass. But nobody knows where Tennessee's state record largemouth was captured.