On July 11, 2024, Jim Britenbaugh—a match angler from the Gettysburg, PA space—caught and launched the brand new New York state-record largemouth bass. For nearly 40 years, the file has been held by John Higbie’s 11-pound, 4-ounce largemouth, however throughout a day of match apply on Cayuga Lake, the 1987 file was dethroned by a largemouth bass that weighed a full pound and two ounces extra.
Jim Britenbaugh lives roughly 5 hours from Cayuga Lake, which is dwelling to a number of the greatest bass fishing within the Finger Lakes area and, on a bigger scale, in New York State. Cayuga Lake boasts a strong largemouth bass fishery and, for many who are eager to it, some large, tournament-winning high quality smallmouth bass. The truth is, simply over two years in the past Cayuga Lake gave up the state-record smallmouth when an 8-pound, 6-ounce specimen was caught on a Berkley MaxScent Minnow; that fish nonetheless holds the file immediately. It’s no surprise the Bassmaster Elite collection returns to Cayuga each few years.
A part of what makes Cayuga Lake such a wealthy bass fishery is the variety of forage fish, which incorporates alewives, rainbow smelt, gizzard shad, and invasive spherical gobys, together with bluegill and pumpkinseed sunfish. Now, with two state-record bass on the charts, Cayuga holds the unofficial crown of New York’s greatest (huge) bass lake.
By his personal admission, Britenbaugh considers himself “a smallmouth man at coronary heart”, however he maintains his love for largemouth bass, too. “Any lake the place I can goal smallmouth and largemouth bass is an incredible alternative. I take pleasure in them each for various causes,” stated Britenbaugh throughout an interview.
Britenbaugh was launched to Cayuga Lake when he joined the Elite Pressure Bassmasters Membership a number of years in the past. The membership, which is affiliated with The Bass Federation (TBF), was wanting so as to add new members and Britenbaugh match the invoice. Becoming a member of the membership opened him as much as match alternatives on Lake George, Lake Champlain, Oneida Lake, and naturally, Cayuga—all of that are a lot bigger phases than his dwelling waters on the higher Potomac River. However Britenbaugh had an affinity for Cayuga Lake even earlier than it awarded him the state-record largemouth. “I like the lake for its high quality of fish—and the standard of fish in numbers. I’ve been there a half dozen instances and it’s only a particular place,” Britenbaugh stated.
With TBF Crew Regionals starting on Friday, July twelfth, Britenbaugh deliberate to get an early begin the day prior to permit himself ample time to apply. Based mostly on his previous outings on Cayuga, he was eyeing some grass patches on the north finish of the lake, however he was additionally contemplating making a run to an space mid-lake, near the place Greg Hackney received the Bassmaster Elite Collection in 2014. “Hackney was fishing deep hydrilla weedlines when he received,” stated Britenbaugh. “So with water temperatures within the mid-70s and these fish in post-spawn, I figured they’d be lounging deep on the weed line to feed,” he stated.
Below snotty climate circumstances, Britenbaugh launched early at Union Springs on the eleventh and determined to as a substitute head for acquainted territory within the north finish of the lake. After a few hours, he returned to the launch to select up his buddy and fishing associate, Dave Ruark, and regardless of his intestine feeling to stay to what he knew, he as a substitute determined to run 12 miles south of Union Springs towards the realm he had been eyeing. “I knew that if I didn’t go on this exploratory run now, I wasn’t going to even try and fish it throughout the match. It took so much to take myself away from the place I had been catching,” Britenbaugh admitted. Little did he know that his determination to discover would carry him the catch of a lifetime.
About 1/4-mile north of the waypoint he set, Britenbaugh began on the lookout for grass within the 18- to 20-foot depth vary. “We had the trolling motor in and LiveScope working simply so I might hold us on the grass line, and that’s once I seen that the grass stored edging in tighter to the financial institution till it met an underwater level. Utilizing his trolling motor, Britenbaugh pushed them additional out so they may work their method in shallow from the purpose. There additionally occurred to be contemporary water flowing in from a tributary which, along with dense vegetation and a submerged level, makes a recipe for a terrific spot. “I caught a 2.5 pounder proper out the gate, and a pair minutes later, I caught a 6 pounder,” Britenbaugh stated. His determination to attempt a brand new spot had already paid off.
After a bit extra time, Ruark requested Britenbaugh if they need to go away for an additional spot, to which Britenbaugh replied, “Most likely, however let’s make a pair extra casts.” As he labored his bait again by way of grass in 8 to 10 ft of water, he obtained bit proper subsequent to the boat. “I reeled down into it, and once I set the hook, it felt like I set right into a cinderblock,” he stated. “My rod was doubled over and I assumed I used to be snagged for actual,” Britenbaugh continued. “Then, the entire sudden, I felt these heavy headshakes, however I nonetheless didn’t assume it was a bass.”
For minute, Britenbaugh stated, he battled this fish because it tried to bury itself within the grass. Outfitted with a 6’10” medium energy rod with an additional quick motion, he was barely under-gunned for the duty. “The rod is actually made for finesse purposes like ned rigs, so this fish was simply kicking my ass,” he stated.
After getting it out of the grass, the fish headed beneath the boat and round to the opposite aspect. At this level, Britenbaugh was on the bow, making an attempt to maintain the trolling motor out of the best way. “That’s when the fish made its first run, pulling about 20 ft of line,” Britenbaugh continued. The fish then surfaced, which prompted Ruark to burn his bait in and seize the online for his buddy. “When she surfaced,” stated Britenbaugh, “she rolled on her aspect revealing her true dimension, and that’s when the perspective within the boat modified.” Britenbaugh knew that this may be, on the very least, his new private greatest bass, and naturally, nerves set in. “After rolling on high, she jumped and proceeded to tail-walk about 15 ft in entrance of my boat. Fortunately, Dave is a hell of a web man, and at that time, I used to be capable of hold her close to the floor and principally direct her into the online,” Britenbaugh recalled.
Ruark flipped the online into the boat and checked out Britenbaugh in disbelief. “Neither certainly one of us remembers what we even stated in that second. All I do know is we had opponents shut by, so we form of stored it quiet and low key,” stated Britenbaugh. With a view to hold the catch below wraps in that second, Ruark stood strategically blocking the livewell till they’d sufficient area round them away from different anglers. “We pulled her out of the livewell and I figured it was most likely a 10-pound fish, and positively my PB,” stated Britenbaugh. “It was freakish wanting.”
When Britenbaugh noticed the dimensions learn 12.08, Ruark exclaimed “was {that a} 12!?”, and instantly seemed up the file on his cellphone. “It’s a state file!” Ruark exclaimed. Britenbaugh couldn’t consider his eyes. “In that second I’m pondering, ‘there’s no method this occurred to me’,” he chuckled, as he recalled the catch throughout our interview.
With the fish within the livewell and in good situation, they referred to as the New York State Division of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) to get it weighed on a licensed scale. It took a while to get in contact with the suitable individual, however after many telephone calls, they reached somebody who might assist. When Britenbaugh talked about “I believe I simply boated the following state-record largemouth,” the state rep. replied “Effectively, our file is 11 kilos, 4 ounces, so what does your scale say?” Britenbaugh instructed them his scale learn 12.08 kilos and Ruark’s scale learn 12.25 kilos.
“They had been stunned to listen to it was a 12-pound fish, as a result of normally these state data are a sport of ounces,” he stated. New York DEC stated they’d ship somebody with licensed scales, so the duo made their method again to the boat ramp. There, a crowd of round 15 individuals had already caught wind of the catch. “I solely referred to as my membership president, vp, and the DEC, so phrase will need to have traveled quick,” stated Britenbaugh.
They put the trophy fish in a match bag and transported it to a scale on the DEC truck mattress. The primary scale, which measures in grams, learn 5603 grams; the second, which measures in kilos, learn 12.35, or 12 kilos, 6 ounces. Along with taking weight and size measurements, the state collected scales to find out the fish’s age, which Britenbaugh is to be taught.
With official catch information within the books, Britenbaugh and his fellow membership member, Lenny Pace, put the fish again within the livewell and rode south to launch her in deeper water close to the location of the catch. The subsequent day, he obtained a name from aquatic biologists with the DEC that stated their scale was lower than a gram off, so the fish was licensed at 12 kilos, 6 ounces—a full pound and two ounces heavier than the earlier state file.
“All my life I’ve wished to catch a double-digit largemouth, and I all the time thought I’d need to do it south of the Mason-Dixon line. However, right here we’re, with a 12-pound bass within the northeast,” stated an elated Britenbaugh. “I don’t know if we’ll ever see this file get damaged once more in our lifetime.”
Britenbaugh stated he went on to put round twenty sixth within the match, and though he didn’t win within the eyes of TBF, he got here away from Cayuga with a private win that’s extra important than any trophy or prize cash: the New York State-record largemouth bass.
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