THE BASS COLLEGE

Virginia's Largemouth Bass State Record - How Long Will The Record Stand?

Virginia Outdoors - A Resource for Virginia Anglers and Hunters

Where to Catch Virginia's Trophy Largemouth

by J. Burkholder

Remarkably, Virginia’s longest-standing freshwater game fish state

record belongs to its most sought-after game fish species – the

largemouth bass.  On April 16, 1985, Richard Tate landed a 16 lb 4 oz

monster from tiny Lake Conner in Halifax County, Virginia.  In the 20+

years since, the serious challengers to this hallowed record have been

few and far between.  Let’s take a look back at the truly elite bass to

come from Virginia waters over the last two decades, and then look

ahead and consider the prospects of a new state record bucketmouth.  

We’ll answer the questions:  What are the right conditions to produce a

giant largemouth bass?  What public waters are most likely to produce

a new state record?  When is the right time to be on the water in pursuit

of Virginia’s mega-bass?

The Challengers:

A look back at the official trophy fish citation records from the VA

Department of Game and Inland Fisheries revealed that over the last

two decades, the Commonwealth has produced only a few serious

challengers – but serious they have been.  The record nearly fell on

the cusp of its 10th anniversary as Briery Creek Lake, a relative

newcomer to the trophy bass scene at that time, produced a 16 lb 3 oz

lunker on April 10, 1995.  Briery Creek Lake nearly duplicated that feat

seven years to the day later with a 16 lb 2 oz fish.  A mere 2 ounces

separates first through third place!  

However, although it is close at the top, only eight bass over 15 lbs

were recorded from 1985-2005 (see Table 1 at right).  Historically,

Virginia produces a 15+ lb largemouth around once every three years

and almost exactly two bass in the 13 – 15 lb range per year (see

Table 2).  Considering the popularity of largemouth bass fishing across

the Commonwealth, and the number of hours of effort exerted by

recreational and professional anglers alike each year, a largemouth

bass over 13 pounds is a trophy indeed!

The heaviest bass per year has been remarkably consistent from 1985

– 2005 with no prolonged peaks or valleys.  The annual blue ribbon

bass averages 14 lbs 4 oz and stays consistently within ±2 lbs of that

number.  Over the three years 2003 – 2005, the heaviest bass has

been between 14.0 and 14.5 lbs each year – a trophy fish by any

standard, but not a serious threat to the state record.  

The Prospects:

For the inside scoop on the prospects for a new name at the top of the

largemouth bass record book, I turned to Mr. John Odenkirk, Senior

Fisheries Biologist with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland

Fisheries.  According to Mr. Odenkirk, “There is always a

chance…every single year, but that record has proven difficult to top”.  

As far as the right conditions to produce the next record, look for good

habitat, ample forage, low mortality (due to fishing and natural causes),

and good genetics (e.g., > 50% Florida alleles).  So what public body of

water best meets these criteria?  “All of the serious candidates have

come from Briery Creek Lake, so smart money should go there –

especially with the new, big protected slot limit,” opined Mr. Odenkirk.  

He also suggested a few darkhorses, so let’s look at the contenders.

Briery Creek Lake (Click Here to Visit Our Briery Creek Page!):

There is no argument that Briery Creek Lake has dominated the mega-

bass scene in Virginia over the last decade.  Briery Creek Lake, a

relatively young 845-acre lake in Prince Edward County, was stocked

with Florida strain and northern strain largemouth bass in 1986 and

1987.  It was first opened to fishing in 1989, and it literally burst on to

the big bass scene in 1992 when it produced six largemouth in excess

of 10 lbs – led by a 13 lb 4 oz monster – in only its fourth fishing

season.  By comparison, no other public body of water produced more

than three fish over 10 lbs that year.  

Since 1992, Briery Creek has entrenched its position as the crown

jewel of big bass fishing in Virginia.  Not surprisingly, Briery Creek holds

down the #2 and #3 spots on the big bass rankings with a 16 lb 3 oz

bass in 1995 and a 16 lb 2 oz bass in 2002.  These two fish clearly

demonstrate that Briery Creek has what it takes to produce the next

state record.  In fact, Briery Creek produced the heaviest annual bass

in the Commonwealth every year from 1994-2002 and the heaviest

bass from a public water from 1994-2004.  Perhaps most impressively,

consider April 1-14, 1995.  During unquestionably the greatest two

weeks of trophy bass fishing in Virginia history, Briery Creek Lake

produced eight bass over 13 pounds!    

Unfortunately, many of the trophy fish caught in the late 1990s were

harvested.  With the gaining popularity of catch-and-release fishing

and the constant improvement in fiberglass replica mounts, the harvest

rate has dropped and should continue to do so.  At least partly in

response to the high harvest rate of these trophy fish, the VDGIF

enacted the slot limit referenced earlier by Mr. Odenkirk.  Effective

January 1, 2001, a protected slot limit of 14” – 24” went into effect, and

only one fish may be kept over 24”.  This slot limit should guarantee

that Briery Creek continues to produce noteworthy fish for years to

come.  So, although the lake has not produced a serious contender to

the record since 2002, it must clearly be considered the frontrunner.

Lake Connor:

The next logical place to look for a record-breaking largemouth bass is

at the source of the current state record since, presumably,

descendents of the 16 lb 4 oz behemoth still fin those same waters

today.  Lake Conner, a scenic 100 acre lake, was the “Briery Creek” of

the 1980s.  The state record was no fluke as Lake Conner produced

the largest bass in the state in 1985, 1986 (14 lb 15 oz), and 1988 (15

lb 4 oz) - an impressive showing for any lake regardless of size.  

Throughout the 1990s Lake Conner continued to produce 10 lb bass

on at least an annual basis, but did not reach the teens again until

2005.  In a bit of a surprise, Lake Conner produced the big bass of

2005 at 14 lb 3 oz – exceeding Briery Creek’s best bass of the season

by over a pound and a half – and reasserted itself as a premier trophy

bass destination.  It is worth noting that she was landed on June 25 –

well after the spawn – and she was released alive!  Might the next state

record already be in place?  

Like Briery Creek, Lake Conner is managed specifically for trophy

bass.  Since 1999, a protected trophy slot limit of 16” – 22” has been in

place to allow mature fish to grow to citation size.  It seems to be

working - in the 2002 electrofishing survey, biologists sampled three

largemouth bass over nine pounds!

The Darkhorses:

Now that we’ve covered the most obvious places, it’s important to note

a few darkhorses.  Many private lakes and ponds exist that hold the

potential to produce a state record largemouth bass.  These waters are

often intensely-managed and lightly-fished.  From 1985 – 2005, 20% of

the bass registered in Virginia over 13 lbs were landed from private

waters.  Of course, the art of gaining access to private fishing waters is

much the same as gaining access to private hunting land.  Keep an eye

out for prime locations, take care in how you present yourself to the

landowner, and be willing to help out around the farm or homestead.  

The historical data clearly point to small lakes and reservoirs as the

most likely source of a bass weighing in the teens.  Of the state’s major

impoundments and river systems, only Lake Anna has produced a

largemouth bass in the teens – a 13 lb 0 oz bass caught way back in

March 1985.  The most recent Lake Anna bass to exceed 12 lbs was

caught in 1994.  Mr. Odenkirk noted that Lake Orange has all of the

elements needed to produce a record catch and could make a run at

the record in a few years with “intensive management and harvest

restrictions”.  Lake Frederick, a 117-acre impoundment located just

north of Front Royal, has had an impressive run over the last two years

producing four bass over 10 lbs highlighted by an 11 lb 14 oz giant in

2004.  Although the fishing can be tough due to the clear water, Lake

Frederick is the best trophy largemouth fishery in the Shenandoah

Valley.  

Under the category of darkhorse small lakes, on a trip to Douthat State

Park a few years ago my wife and I hiked out to the dam and spotted a

group of four largemouth bass relaxing in the sun along the shoreline.  

These were four real trophy fish by any standard.  Douthat is a fee

fishing lake that is stocked with trout twice a week during the fee

season.  Of course, I immediately thought of the small trout-stocked

Southern California lakes that regularly produce world-class

largemouth (including the recent controversial 25 lb fish that would

have shattered the 80-year old world record).  So, I posed the

questions to Mr. Odenkirk:  Do you think that largemouth bass in small

trout-stocked Virginia lakes could reach sufficient size to feed on the

trout?  If so, might there be some potential in these lakes for a bass to

achieve record size?  He responded that there is consensus among the

state biologists that trout do indeed provide excellent forage for trophy

bass.  He also admitted that the biologists have spoken lightheartedly

amongst themselves about the possibility of someday stocking trout as

bass forage, but the feasibility has not been seriously considered.  He

did relay that a few years ago while conducting an electrofishing survey

on a small “Category A” trout-stocked lake, a smallmouth bass two

ounces shy of the current state record was sampled!  He offered this

story as “proof positive” regarding the concept that a small trout-

stocked Virginia lake could indeed produce a record-book black bass.

When to Fish:

Regardless of where you fish, there is no question about when to target

trophy fish in the Commonwealth – March and April.  The numbers do

not lie in this instance (see Figure 1 at right).  Of course, these months

also likely have higher angler effort than, say, January and February,

but even normalizing these numbers by angler effort would almost

certainly not change the monthly rankings.  

So what to take from all of this information?  Spend some vacation time

in March and April, leave the high-powered bass boat in the garage,

throw the jon boat on the back of the truck, and head out to Virginia’s

small public waters and private ponds!  Your name just might end up in

the record books!