seminole87
Member
This is Ron Petzelt, the angler who caught Georgia's 2nd biggest Largemouth. This was my neghbor, my best friends dad, and more importanly, my 2nd dad, role model and father figure. He taught me everything I knew growing up, from the time I could walk. I owe my love of fishing to this man. Below you will find the AJC article on the catch. Note the measurements of this fish!! Doing the math on the fish, on paper its a 24.02 lb fish. 28.5" long and 26" girth....
It still stands today as the 2nd biggest Largemouth caught Georgia, under George Perry's 22 lb 4oz world record.
Some of you might have seen my posts over the years looking for the gon and georgia sportsman issues coving this with no luck. Finally I was able to get the stuff from his widow, so I will share it for y'all to enjoy.
FISHERMAN'S DREAM OR NIGHTMARE?
Lack of certification means 18-lb. bass won't go on books
BYLINE: SALTER, CHARLES Charles Salter Fishing Editor STAFF
DATE: October 4, 1987
PUBLICATION: The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution EDITION: The Atlanta Journal Constitution
SECTION: OUTDOORS
PAGE: B/32
Ron Petzelt's humongous largemouth bass might have been a record, but wasn't authenticated by being weighed on certified scales as required by the International Game Fish Association. A Norcross man went fishing in a central Georgia lake on a drizzly day two weeks ago and returned home that night a happy, proud angler with a humongous largemouth bass that had a mouth big enough to swallow a cantaloupe.
Ron Petzelt's fat, bucket-mouthed lunker was the kind of fish about which all bass anglers dream of hooking someday.
The bass weighed 17 pounds, 12 ounces on a set of old, produce-type spring scales in the bed of a cane pole fisherman's pickup truck on the lake bank shortly after 6 p.m. on Sept. 19. That night at his home, Petzelt weighed the bass on his Berkley Sportsman spring scales, and the needle stopped "a hair above 18 pounds."
"If the fish's actual weight was 18 pounds, this bass might have been the biggest caught in Georgia waters since the late George W. Perry landed the all-tackle world record 22-pound, 4-ounce largemouth bass June 2, 1932, in Montgomery Lake near Lumber City, Ga.," said Gib Johnston of the state Department of Natural Resources.
The question could be academic since a fish must be weighed on certified scales for the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) to consider it for a world record. Georgia also has the same requirements.
Petzelt, 41, said, "I thought the world record was about 22 pounds, 4 ounces, so I knew I didn't have a record bass. I took the bass to a taxidermist, and he's already started working on it."
Joy turned rapidly into painful disappointment when he learned his fish may have been a potential line-class world record. The IGFA recognizes 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20-pound line class world records for largemouth bass.
The 20-pound line class record bass weighed 17 pounds, 12 ounces, and was landed by John Faircloth July 11, 1986, in Lake Tohopekaliga near Kissimmee, Fla. Petzelt was fishing with 20-pound test Ande line on a Zebco 808 closed-face reel with a 6-foot Berkley Bionic graphite rod.
Berkley pays an angler $1,000 for catching a world-record fish on its rod or line. This revelation made Petzel feel even more ill.
Petzelt said, "My fishing partner, Gary Gilbert, and I were 45 minutes late leaving the lake and had to rush home for a dinner party our wives planned. We knew we'd better be on time. I didn't have time to weigh the fish at a grocery store."
He said the huge bass was 28 1/2 inches long with a nearly 26-inch girth. To keep the bass' mouth open for some Polaroid snapshots, he inserted a smoker's 6-inch pipe. Gilbert said the fish's mouth actually was 2 inches larger, top to bottom.
Taxidermist Jack Brannock of Hiawassee, Ga., who has already skinned the bass and begun working with the body form, said, "It was frozen when I picked it up. After it thawed out, I measured it at 28 inches long, and it was 22 1/2 inches around. It changes a little when frozen and thawed. The girth depends on how you lay it out, too. If full of eggs in the spring, that fish would have been an even bigger whopper. This will be the biggest bass I ever mounted."
Petzelt declined to identify the lake's name or location. He said it was a private lake less than two hours' drive from his home. He estimated the lake covers 30 or 40 acres and may be 30 years old. Heavy fishing line is necessary because of the large number of stumps and fallen trees.
In the spring and summer, Petzelt and Gilbert caught bass weighing up to 12 1/2 pounds in this lake. In one day, their 20-pound Ande line was broken six times, and Gilbert said a huge fish broke his graphite rod in half.
The day Petzelt hooked his giant bass, he and Gilbert caught several largemouths weighing 3 or 4 pounds while fishing with big shiners on 2/0 hooks. His big bass struck around 6 p.m. on the hot, overcast, occasionally drizzly day.
"The cork bobbed a couple of times and eased off on the surface," Petzelt said. "Then it began to submarine. I let the fish run about 15 feet and have time to swallow the shiner, then I set the hook hard. Then it was CensoredCensoredCensoredCensored on the end of the string. At first I thought it may be a big catfish. It was like hooking a moving log. She first went down, then went straight out, realizing she was hooked.
"She came out of the water, all except her tail, and shook her huge head. Gary put down his fishing rod and grabbed the net. The bass' eyes were as big as half-dollars. Nearly 8 minutes later, she broke water again. I regained some line. The sound of that Zebco 808's drag was sweet music. I was praying that line wouldn't break. My adrenalin was flowing. It was frightening to see a bass jump that's so big you could put your head in her mouth."
After a suspenseful fight lasting almost 15 minutes, Gilbert netted the fat, old bass and put her in the boat. Both men were so excited that they were shaking like autumn leaves.
"Gary put his feet on the bass because she was flopping around, and I didn't want her to jump out of the boat," Petzelt said. "I grabbed the bass with both hands, and we decided to head for the bank."
An elderly man fishing from the bank with a cane pole had watched the battle with the fish, and he offered to weigh it on some old scales, such as those used for produce, in the bed of his pickup truck.
"We put the fish on his scales and backed off," Petzelt said. "The scales read 17 pounds, 12 ounces. The man said his scales were off a little. He said, `Fellows, you've got yourselves an 18-pound bass. I was not aware then that there were line classes in world records."
Gilbert said, "Ron is in the lead now with a bigger bass than mine. But we are under the impression there's a much bigger bass in that body of water."
Petzelt, an Atlanta native who has enjoyed fishing since his youth when he went with his father, Norman F. Petzelt, to Georgia lakes and streams, said the best live baits for lunker class bass in the unidentified lake are big shiners, spring lizards and frogs. Productive artificial baits include big-bladed spinnerbaits and plastic worms.
He and his fishing partner concluded from this year's fishing experiences that it usually takes a big bait to catch a big bass.
Since World War II, many very big bass have been caught in Georgia lakes and rivers. Numerous trophy fish were taken home and eaten without the angler telling anyone except family members and close friends who were sworn to secrecy.
The heaviest Georgia bass since Perry's world record may have been the 17-pound, 9-ounce largemouth that Emory Dunahoo caught Dec. 19, 1965, while trolling a frog-colored Water in Lake Sidney Lanier.
David R. Presley formerly held the 16-pound line class world record for his 16-pound, 12-ounce largemouth landed in Lake Chatuge March 27, 1976. The former r ecord-holder in the 12-pound line class is Greg V. Rymer, who boated a 16-pound, 9-ounce largemouth bass in Lake Allatoona Aug. 1, 1982.
Since the 1960s, several 16-pound bass have been caught in small lakes near College Park, Madison, Bainbridge, Valdosta and Tifton. Numerous 10-to 13-pound bass have been hooked in the major impoundments in the 1970s and 1980s.
An 18-pound bass was found dead several years ago in one of the Patrick lakes near Tifton. Ben Patrick caught a 15 1/2-pounder in 1972, and a 16-pounder was landed by a man a few years ago.
Photo: BIG CATCH: Largemouth bass caught by Ron Petzelt (left) weighed approximately 18 pounds, its dimensions were 28 1/2 inches long with a nearly 26-inch girth, and Petzelt and Gary Gilbert say there might be larger ones where it came from./CHARLES SALTER/Staff
Chart: Georgia's biggest largemouth bass catches.
Photo: Ron Petzelt and fish.
It still stands today as the 2nd biggest Largemouth caught Georgia, under George Perry's 22 lb 4oz world record.
Some of you might have seen my posts over the years looking for the gon and georgia sportsman issues coving this with no luck. Finally I was able to get the stuff from his widow, so I will share it for y'all to enjoy.
FISHERMAN'S DREAM OR NIGHTMARE?
Lack of certification means 18-lb. bass won't go on books
BYLINE: SALTER, CHARLES Charles Salter Fishing Editor STAFF
DATE: October 4, 1987
PUBLICATION: The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution EDITION: The Atlanta Journal Constitution
SECTION: OUTDOORS
PAGE: B/32
Ron Petzelt's humongous largemouth bass might have been a record, but wasn't authenticated by being weighed on certified scales as required by the International Game Fish Association. A Norcross man went fishing in a central Georgia lake on a drizzly day two weeks ago and returned home that night a happy, proud angler with a humongous largemouth bass that had a mouth big enough to swallow a cantaloupe.
Ron Petzelt's fat, bucket-mouthed lunker was the kind of fish about which all bass anglers dream of hooking someday.
The bass weighed 17 pounds, 12 ounces on a set of old, produce-type spring scales in the bed of a cane pole fisherman's pickup truck on the lake bank shortly after 6 p.m. on Sept. 19. That night at his home, Petzelt weighed the bass on his Berkley Sportsman spring scales, and the needle stopped "a hair above 18 pounds."
"If the fish's actual weight was 18 pounds, this bass might have been the biggest caught in Georgia waters since the late George W. Perry landed the all-tackle world record 22-pound, 4-ounce largemouth bass June 2, 1932, in Montgomery Lake near Lumber City, Ga.," said Gib Johnston of the state Department of Natural Resources.
The question could be academic since a fish must be weighed on certified scales for the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) to consider it for a world record. Georgia also has the same requirements.
Petzelt, 41, said, "I thought the world record was about 22 pounds, 4 ounces, so I knew I didn't have a record bass. I took the bass to a taxidermist, and he's already started working on it."
Joy turned rapidly into painful disappointment when he learned his fish may have been a potential line-class world record. The IGFA recognizes 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20-pound line class world records for largemouth bass.
The 20-pound line class record bass weighed 17 pounds, 12 ounces, and was landed by John Faircloth July 11, 1986, in Lake Tohopekaliga near Kissimmee, Fla. Petzelt was fishing with 20-pound test Ande line on a Zebco 808 closed-face reel with a 6-foot Berkley Bionic graphite rod.
Berkley pays an angler $1,000 for catching a world-record fish on its rod or line. This revelation made Petzel feel even more ill.
Petzelt said, "My fishing partner, Gary Gilbert, and I were 45 minutes late leaving the lake and had to rush home for a dinner party our wives planned. We knew we'd better be on time. I didn't have time to weigh the fish at a grocery store."
He said the huge bass was 28 1/2 inches long with a nearly 26-inch girth. To keep the bass' mouth open for some Polaroid snapshots, he inserted a smoker's 6-inch pipe. Gilbert said the fish's mouth actually was 2 inches larger, top to bottom.
Taxidermist Jack Brannock of Hiawassee, Ga., who has already skinned the bass and begun working with the body form, said, "It was frozen when I picked it up. After it thawed out, I measured it at 28 inches long, and it was 22 1/2 inches around. It changes a little when frozen and thawed. The girth depends on how you lay it out, too. If full of eggs in the spring, that fish would have been an even bigger whopper. This will be the biggest bass I ever mounted."
Petzelt declined to identify the lake's name or location. He said it was a private lake less than two hours' drive from his home. He estimated the lake covers 30 or 40 acres and may be 30 years old. Heavy fishing line is necessary because of the large number of stumps and fallen trees.
In the spring and summer, Petzelt and Gilbert caught bass weighing up to 12 1/2 pounds in this lake. In one day, their 20-pound Ande line was broken six times, and Gilbert said a huge fish broke his graphite rod in half.
The day Petzelt hooked his giant bass, he and Gilbert caught several largemouths weighing 3 or 4 pounds while fishing with big shiners on 2/0 hooks. His big bass struck around 6 p.m. on the hot, overcast, occasionally drizzly day.
"The cork bobbed a couple of times and eased off on the surface," Petzelt said. "Then it began to submarine. I let the fish run about 15 feet and have time to swallow the shiner, then I set the hook hard. Then it was CensoredCensoredCensoredCensored on the end of the string. At first I thought it may be a big catfish. It was like hooking a moving log. She first went down, then went straight out, realizing she was hooked.
"She came out of the water, all except her tail, and shook her huge head. Gary put down his fishing rod and grabbed the net. The bass' eyes were as big as half-dollars. Nearly 8 minutes later, she broke water again. I regained some line. The sound of that Zebco 808's drag was sweet music. I was praying that line wouldn't break. My adrenalin was flowing. It was frightening to see a bass jump that's so big you could put your head in her mouth."
After a suspenseful fight lasting almost 15 minutes, Gilbert netted the fat, old bass and put her in the boat. Both men were so excited that they were shaking like autumn leaves.
"Gary put his feet on the bass because she was flopping around, and I didn't want her to jump out of the boat," Petzelt said. "I grabbed the bass with both hands, and we decided to head for the bank."
An elderly man fishing from the bank with a cane pole had watched the battle with the fish, and he offered to weigh it on some old scales, such as those used for produce, in the bed of his pickup truck.
"We put the fish on his scales and backed off," Petzelt said. "The scales read 17 pounds, 12 ounces. The man said his scales were off a little. He said, `Fellows, you've got yourselves an 18-pound bass. I was not aware then that there were line classes in world records."
Gilbert said, "Ron is in the lead now with a bigger bass than mine. But we are under the impression there's a much bigger bass in that body of water."
Petzelt, an Atlanta native who has enjoyed fishing since his youth when he went with his father, Norman F. Petzelt, to Georgia lakes and streams, said the best live baits for lunker class bass in the unidentified lake are big shiners, spring lizards and frogs. Productive artificial baits include big-bladed spinnerbaits and plastic worms.
He and his fishing partner concluded from this year's fishing experiences that it usually takes a big bait to catch a big bass.
Since World War II, many very big bass have been caught in Georgia lakes and rivers. Numerous trophy fish were taken home and eaten without the angler telling anyone except family members and close friends who were sworn to secrecy.
The heaviest Georgia bass since Perry's world record may have been the 17-pound, 9-ounce largemouth that Emory Dunahoo caught Dec. 19, 1965, while trolling a frog-colored Water in Lake Sidney Lanier.
David R. Presley formerly held the 16-pound line class world record for his 16-pound, 12-ounce largemouth landed in Lake Chatuge March 27, 1976. The former r ecord-holder in the 12-pound line class is Greg V. Rymer, who boated a 16-pound, 9-ounce largemouth bass in Lake Allatoona Aug. 1, 1982.
Since the 1960s, several 16-pound bass have been caught in small lakes near College Park, Madison, Bainbridge, Valdosta and Tifton. Numerous 10-to 13-pound bass have been hooked in the major impoundments in the 1970s and 1980s.
An 18-pound bass was found dead several years ago in one of the Patrick lakes near Tifton. Ben Patrick caught a 15 1/2-pounder in 1972, and a 16-pounder was landed by a man a few years ago.
Photo: BIG CATCH: Largemouth bass caught by Ron Petzelt (left) weighed approximately 18 pounds, its dimensions were 28 1/2 inches long with a nearly 26-inch girth, and Petzelt and Gary Gilbert say there might be larger ones where it came from./CHARLES SALTER/Staff
Chart: Georgia's biggest largemouth bass catches.
Photo: Ron Petzelt and fish.
