Largest Table Rock Largemouth Ever...

[zipstick]

You just never know where you might turn up an interesting find....This is my strangest most mysterious big bass story I've come across.

About 7 years ago I was in Minnesota to fish the Mississippi for fiesty smallies. On a cool damp day, my buddy and I went into a small restaurant on I-10 to get a cup of coffee. Inside I quickly noticed a truly remarkable display of freshwaster fish mounts above the salad bar. One particularly huge largemouth was in this mix, and from afar, I figured the brute was caught in Cali or Florida. Much to my amazement the paper tag read "Table Rock Lake Arkansas" 14 lb. 2 oz. After my friend snapped a picture of it, I got the manager's story on this mounted giant bass.

....Seems that the original owner of this restaurant near St. Cloud, MN was quite the angler. He traveled all across North America and caught some really nice trophy fish. This man, Bob Waseka, had since passed away, but left the fish mounts in the restaurant. If the info on the tag is true, this largemouth would surpass any caught in Table Rock or in the entire state of Missouri. It would not, however, surpass the Arkansas record. The manager figured that this bass was caught in the late '70's or early '80's. From the looks of the mount, it really does look to weigh all of 14 pounds. I did not get a girth or length measurement at the time. I did get my friend who had a better camera to snap this picture for me which I retook digitally.

Fast forward to 2010. Three weeks ago I again traveled north to battle more smallmouth, so I took my tape measure to this restaurant to measure the huge mounted bass. Unfortunately, nearly all the mounted trophies were gone! A new manager said that the upkeep on these fish was getting expensive so he took them down. Furthermore, he said he didn't know what became of the bass in question. What a letdown!!!... In conclusion, I have no reason to doubt the authenticity of this Table Rock record bass, but there's no way to prove that this fish actually came from Table Rock Lake, or for that matter that it really weighed more than 14 pounds. I must say, though, that I believe what I saw is true. I know many have stories of giant Table Rock Bass and other giants that were caught or that still may lurk in private ponds across the state. How about some other big bass stories or even legends to pass the time.

[laker67]

Back in the 60's I remember reading an article in one of the fishing mags of that time, maybe outdoor life. It talked of a local legend at TR by the name of Welch. I think his first name was Sam. He supposedly had caught hundreds of bass from TR over 4 pounds, with quite a few pushing the 10 pound mark. Anyone remember that name or the story behind it?

[zipstick]

Back in the 60's I remember reading an article in one of the fishing mags of that time, maybe outdoor life. It talked of a local legend at TR by the name of Welch. I think his first name was Sam. He supposedly had caught hundreds of bass from TR over 4 pounds, with quite a few pushing the 10 pound mark. Anyone remember that name or the story behind it?

Sam Welch as I recall caught a great number of his fish on the old jig and eel. He kept records of his catches as well, and he did lots of his fishing in the 50's and 60's. Can you imagine the numbers of large bass swimming the lake back then? Some of the older folks tell of having a cove to oneself any Saturday, renting a Rapala for $10 - $20 a day, and even floating the James before the lake was built.

[Smalliebigs]

Zipstick,

This is not a Missouri story so it may not be as impressive or hold as much of your attention but, my grandpa and my uncle and I were fishing at Crescent Lake in Crescent City FL, part the St.Johns rivr chain. We were fishing for crappie and I was getting truly bored with the meat hunting for Florida slabs and insisted on trying to catch some bass. My uncle lives down there and was giving me all kinds a crap about fishing for bass because they were just not hitting very well at that time and he needed meat for the fish fry they were planning.He just wouldn't leave me alone and gave me hell for about 30 mins straight until I caught this fish on a spinnerbait.It wasn't a huge bass by Florida standards but it weighed 11 pounds 9 ounces on a digital berkley scale my uncle had in his boat and fought like an absolute warrior.It was deffinitely a good change of pace from the crappie fishing and it was fun as hell talking trash to my uncle the rest of the dayI really like my grandpa's face in the backround, he kind of looks a little pissed????

[Sam]

Zipstick - I'd say the chance of that 14-pounder coming out of Tablerock is about the same as the chance of I-10 running through Minnesota.

It seems like someone up there was even confused about the state - 99%+ of Tablerock is in Missouri, and except for a few miles on the Long/Cricket Creek arm, there's not much Tablerock bass water in Arkansas. I bet a biologist could have looked at that mount and seen that it was a Florida-strain bass, caught from some warm location. Just sayin'.

[Bill B.]

For years, Frank Fensom had the generally acknowledged Table Rock record bass. I don't remember the details, other than that he caught it during cold weather, on a bank where he had seen some dead shad blown in by the wind. Frank owned a tackle store in Raytown during Truman Lake's early years.

I have several books with photos of Sam Welch taken during the late '50s and early '60s. He caught some incredible strings of bass out of Bull Shoals when it was young.

Take a look at this Web page and tell me what the photo implies:

http://tablerocklake.us/index.html

[T-RockJaws]

Sam - you are forgetting about the Kings and the White river both of which have some excellent bass fishing across the state line. Pretty neat story, regardless of any fabrication that could have taken place!

[zipstick]

Zipstick - I'd say the chance of that 14-pounder coming out of Tablerock is about the same as the chance of I-10 running through Minnesota.

It seems like someone up there was even confused about the state - 99%+ of Tablerock is in Missouri, and except for a few miles on the Long/Cricket Creek arm, there's not much Tablerock bass water in Arkansas. I bet a biologist could have looked at that mount and seen that it was a Florida-strain bass, caught from some warm location. Just sayin'.

Highway 10 runs right through St. Cloud Minnesota. Check it out!

[zipstick]

For years, Frank Fensom had the generally acknowledged Table Rock record bass. I don't remember the details, other than that he caught it during cold weather, on a bank where he had seen some dead shad blown in by the wind. Frank owned a tackle store in Raytown during Truman Lake's early years.

I have several books with photos of Sam Welch taken during the late '50s and early '60s. He caught some incredible strings of bass out of Bull Shoals when it was young.

Take a look at this Web page and tell me what the photo implies:

http://tablerocklake.us/index.html

Some of us know the story behind the big Japanese bass, and the folks who put this pic within the Table Rock ad should be ashamed to have printed this sham. The pic from Minnesota is no goofy hoax, but I can't prove its authenticity. Perhaps a little more scouting around St. Cloud is in order. Aha, another smallie trip in the making. I've got a name and a location, and that's a start.

[flytyer57]

Highway 10 runs right through St. Cloud Minnesota. Check it out!

Hwy 10 may run through St. Cloud, but the interstate running through MN is I-90/94.

I-10 is the southernmost interstate running across the country from Jacksonville, FL to Santa Monica, CA. Been on both too many times not to know that.