News Digest: Bassmaster Classic Visits Texas; Big Bass Fishing Derbies; Another Fishing Record and More Thin Ice Tragedy

Spring is now officially here with the spring equinox happening on Thursday, March 21, 2025, and wildflowers, warmer weather and some of the year’s best fishing lie ahead in the coming week.

In winter’s dying gasp, there has been more tragic news out of the North Country, though, as outdoor enthusiasts get outdoors. There is also news of a familiar face finding himself in the fishing record books once again. 

Everything is Bigger in Texas

The Lone Star State will get plenty of attention the first weekend of spring as the 2025 Bassmaster Classic comes to Ray Roberts Lake. With Fort Worth serving as the host city, the reservoir that lies on the northern periphery of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex will host the so-called Super Bowl of Bass Fishing for the second time ever, the first Classic at Ray Bob happening in June 2021. 

During the weekend, the work of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department biologists will be spotlighted, particularly in light of the agency's work at stocking bass in the North Texas lake.

According to TPWD, Ray Roberts has produced six Legacy Class ShareLunker entries (more than 13 pounds), including the current lake record largemouth bass of 15.18 pounds, a behemoth caught in March 2015. 

In addition to that bucketmouth bass, three Strike King Elite Class bass (a largemouth bass weighing more than 10 pounds) were accepted into the Toyota ShareLunker program in 2024. 

According to TPWD data, around 15,000 fingerlings were stocked from 2012's Legacy Class ShareLunker 530, and enough time has passed for those offspring to potentially be well over 13 pounds. Perhaps one of those giant bass will be caught this weekend when the 56 Classic anglers hit the timber-filled waters of Ray Roberts in search of fishing's biggest professional title and a $300,000 payday for the winner. 

There is plenty of other bass to be caught at Ray Bob in light of recent stockings by TPWD.  According to the agency, some 4.6 million fingerling Florida bass have been stocked in Ray Roberts, and the reservoir's fisheries management plan calls for stocking Lone Star largemouth bass at Ray Roberts every two to three years to boost big bass potential and maintain a high-quality bass fishery. Last year, TPWD hatcheries stocked 347,000 Lone Star Bass, which are Texas’ selectively bred Florida bass descended from ShareLunker bass.

But big bass in Ray Roberts—a reservoir impounded in 1987 and named after a late, local Congressman—aren't the only accolades from TPWD and its Inland Fisheries Department. Last year alone, the agency's freshwater fisheries biologists stocked nearly 27 million fish in total, a huge number that is comprised of 17 different species, sub-species or hybrids in public waters of Texas.

Out of that number, roughly 7.9 million of those fish were stocked into Texas rivers, ponds and lakes associated with 50 state parks.

2025 Big Bass Tour Off and Running

At most tournaments, anglers talk about catching big bass. But at the Bass Pro Shops/Cabela’s Big Bass Tour, big bass are the entire point of the derby. That’s one reason why the circuit has become one of the top series around the country with more than $2 million in guaranteed prizes.

The derby series format is unique because it isn't a daily limit of bass that anglers are looking for, but that one really big lunker of the day.

"Unlike traditional bass fishing tournaments where anglers weigh in five bass at the end of the day, the Bass Pro Shops/Cabela’s Big Bass Tour allows amateur anglers from all skill levels to win multiple cash payouts each day during the hourly weigh-ins," says the tournament website. "Each tournament day features seven hourly weigh-ins that pay ten cash payouts each hour.

"That means each three-day event offers a total of 210 hourly cash payouts, and a four-day event offers 280 hourly cash payouts," the site continues. "The angler with the overall biggest bass of the event will also win the Grand Prize of a brand new, fully rigged Nitro Z18 powered by Mercury 150HP ProXS valued at $55,980. Anglers may only enter one bass per hourly weigh-in."

Four tournaments are already in the books for 2025, with another nine events to go. The next tournament is scheduled for April 4-6 at Table Rock Lake in Missouri, and other stops this year include Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia, Lake Murray in South Carolina, Chickamauga Lake in Tennessee, Pickwick Lake in Tennessee, the Mississippi River in Wisconsin, Douglas Lake this fall in Tennessee, Guntersville Lake in Alabama and a fall derby at Lake Murray in South Carolina.

At the first event on the Harris Chain of Lakes in Florida, Mike Barrett, Jr. took the big bass honors at 9.86 pounds, just topping the 9.85 pounder weighed by Gregg Tollini. At Lake Conroe, Joel Crawford weighed the top bass at 9.84 pounds; at the springtime Douglas Lake event, Ronnie Rhodes grabbed big bass honors with a 5.20 pounder; and at Clark Hills Lake, Kirby Scott weighed the biggest bass at 9.26 pounds.

Kentucky Angler Sets ANOTHER World Record

Last week, we told you about Kentucky angler Art Weston's 79th world record in the International Game Fish Association's record book, a record that came thanks to his catch and release of a monster muskie in Minnesota last fall on Oct. 29, 2024. For the record, that fish measured 54.33 inches, good enough to be certified as the IGFA's All-Tackle Length World Record for the species.

If you've been following along in recent years, it isn’t a surprise that Weston has forced yet another amendment to our story from last week. Why? His name is in the IGFA record books once more, this time thanks to an alligator gar he caught last fall on Sept. 19, 2024, while fishing on Choke Canyon Reservoir near Corpus Christi, Texas.

Fishing again with IGFA Capt. Kirk Kirkland aboard the Garship Enterprise, Weston was well south of Sam Rayburn Reservoir where he and Kirkland made history on Sept. 2, 2023, with a 283-pound alligator gar on Big Sam. That fish is the all-tackle record in the IGFA book, breaking a 72-year held record.

Early last fall, Weston went big again with a massive 212-pound alligator gar from Choke Canyon. While well short of his all-tackle record, the giant fish is the new IGFA Men's 8-kilogram (16-pound) Line Class World Record for the species. 

That means that Weston now holds every available IGFA Men's Line Class World Record for alligator gar. The latest benchmark also becomes Weston's 80th IGFA world record...and counting.

More Late Winter Trouble in North Country

Spring is generally regarded as a beautiful time of the year when the leaves begin to bud out, the fish move shallow and the weather grows less grim. 

But springtime is also a time of transition from winter to summer, meaning that there is also a volatile and unpredictable edge to the season, something evidenced last week by a vicious tornado outbreak and more than 140-plus wildfires across Oklahoma and Texas. Further north, it was the demise of snow and cold weather that sparked headlines.

One of those instances was in New Hampshire where the state's Fish and Game department received a call on the evening of March 16. The call came from a distressed hiker who had gotten stuck in dangerous conditions along the state's Carter-Moriah Trail. 

The hiker was experienced but eventually became mired in snow that was increasingly softened by rain some three miles into the woods off of Route 16 in Gorham, according to a NHFGD news release. As her snowshoes began to sink, she fell a number of times, eventually incurring a painful leg injury. Finally, in the soaking rain, the hiker called the state's natural resource agency to seek help.

That set in motion a rescue team of four conservation officers and 11 volunteers from the Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue Team in response to the call. It took until 11:15 for rescuers to reach the injured hiker, who was given first aid and warm, dry clothing. Once she had rebounded a bit, rescuers assisted the hiker back towards Route 16.

The rescue wasn't an easy one, as the rain melted some of the heavy snowfields in the woods, creating flood-swollen streams to cross with ropes. Finally, at 4:18 a.m. on March 17, everyone got out of the flooded and snow-filled woods.

As NH Conservation Officers noted, the hiker, identified as 33-year-old Lauren Poole of Manchester, N.H., was experienced, but conditions began to change rapidly, and the soft, wet, melting snow made even snowshoeing extremely difficult. With the snowmelt and rapidly rising streams in the area, the situation quickly became difficult.

While Poole's snowshoe hike had a happy ending, another spring adventure in Michigan did not. We told you last week about a thin ice rescue on Michigan's Saginaw Bay where authorities had to rescue three ice anglers who had fallen through thinning ice. A similar situation happened on Wednesday, March 12, when first responders tried to rescue a man when a man wind sailing across the lake's ice field suddenly fell through.

With the ice thawing from recent warm weather, efforts to reach the victim were challenging at best, as several rescuers bear crawled a few hundred yards to the man. Finally, the U.S. Coast Guard was able to airlift the man out of the frigid water after a USCG rescue swimmer was lowered below. On shore, the victim was transported to the care of Livingston County EMS according to a report on Detroit Local News 4 television station website. Despite CPR being administered by firefighters, the victim could not be revived and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

As a reminder, an ice safety chart from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources indicates that ice needs to be at least 4 inches thick before attempting to walk on it. For things like snowmobiles or side-by-side ATVs, ice needs to be several inches thicker. Anything less than 4 inches is too dangerous for even foot traffic.

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