Keith Lusher 08.11.25
Steve Jenkins thought he was having a reasonably good match day when he hooked into what felt like a stable fish at Roosevelt Lake. He had no concept he was about to land what might be Arizona’s new state document largemouth bass.
The 55-year-old angler from Apache Junction was fishing a Southwest Customized Deal with Summer season Slam match on Saturday, August third, together with his accomplice Mike Selvage. After their first few spots didn’t pan out, Jenkins determined to verify an outdated honey gap he hadn’t visited shortly because of altering water ranges.
“We truly simply pulled over and stopped, form of spur of the second, and we began catching fish instantly,” Jenkins stated.
Utilizing his forward-facing sonar, Jenkins marked a number of fish holding round construction in about 30 toes of water close to a drop off. Round 7 a.m., he misplaced what felt like an enormous fish when it broke his line. After retying, he dropped a 6-inch Roboworm straight tail in morning daybreak shade again down on a dropshot rig with a 1/4-ounce weight.
“It was down there for possibly 30 seconds, and I simply felt weight. I by no means even felt the fish chunk,” Jenkins recalled. “However as quickly as I set the hook, it began ripping drag.”
The fish instantly took off towards the east, pulling drag for 15 seconds earlier than leaping. With the solar behind it, Jenkins and Selvage might solely see the bass’s large silhouette towards the brilliant morning sky.
“Mike noticed it for a second and stated, ‘Holy crap! It’s a 10-pounder!’” Jenkins stated.
The 2 anglers chased the fish with their trolling motor because it made a number of highly effective runs. After a cautious struggle on a 10-pound Berkley Nanofil principal line and a 7-pound fluorocarbon chief, Selvage lastly slipped the online below the large bass.
Jenkins, who owns A-1 Auto Restore and has been fishing Roosevelt for 25 years, initially guessed the fish weighed round 12 or 13 kilos. He’d caught some large bass earlier than, together with a pair within the 9 to 10-pound vary, however this one felt totally different.
With over 4 hours left till the match weigh-in, Jenkins’s principal concern shifted to conserving the fish alive. He devoted half of his livewell to the large bass, which barely match inside. The fish was so giant that Jenkins “fizzed” it twice in the course of the morning to forestall barotrauma and even stopped at a marina to get ice to chill the livewell water.
“It’s the largest factor I’ve caught in my lifetime,” Jenkins stated. “I didn’t need it to die.”
By the point they returned to the boat ramp for weigh-in, phrase had unfold via the match discipline. Different anglers lined up with cameras and telephones as Jenkins carried the fish with each palms to the licensed scale. When the digital show confirmed 16.57 kilos, the group erupted.
The present Arizona state document stands at 16 kilos, 7.68 ounces, caught by Randall White at Canyon Lake in 1997. Jenkins’s fish would beat that document by greater than two ounces.
Regardless of the potential document and all the thrill, Jenkins caught to his authentic plan. After taking images and weighing in for the match (the place he and Selvage completed second with 26.07 kilos whole), he launched the bass again into Roosevelt Lake.
“The intention was at all times to launch it. I’d have hated to kill that fish,” Jenkins stated. “She swam off sturdy.”
Jenkins has contacted the Arizona Game and Fish Department about certifying the document based mostly on the pictures, video proof, and witness testimony from the match. Whereas it’s unsure whether or not the company will settle for a catch-and-release document certification, Jenkins has no regrets about his determination.
“My aim was simply to maintain the fish alive,” he stated. “In the event that they don’t give me the document, then it’s what it’s. I simply needed to see that fish return.”
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