a story on world record fish

I like reading about walleyes, and I came across this story about world records on walleye, muskie, and smallmouth. thought some of you guys may find this interesting.[url]http://www.in-fisherman.com/content/record-walleyes-today[/url]

I don't have a clue about the Walleye or Muskie but will stand 110% behind David L. Hayes and his World Record Smallmouth. Met Mr. Hayes on 2 different occasions as well has his lovely wife this spring and anyone that spends more than 2 minutes in the same room with this couple will swear on a stack of Bibles that the record is legit. I saw the fish in person, and there is no picture that I had ever seen before or seen since that does this fish justice. I have seen and held many 5 pounders and 5 more that went over 6 lbs plus have seen Billy Westmoreland's 10 pounder mount and this 11-15 lb Smallmouth is so FREAKISHLY larger than any other fish I have seen that it is unbelievable. The Smallmouth World Record fish is legit.

Has anyone ever calculated the weight of Mr. hayes' smallmouth from its dimensions like they mentioned doing for the walleye?

David Hayes fish was 27 inches long and had a girth of 21.66 inches. Using the freshwater calculator for Bass it estimates the weight at 13.82 if the fish is considered "Large" for its class and 13.16 lbs if the fish is considered "Average" for its class and 12.5 lbs if the fish is considered "Small" for its class. Take your pick the estimates range from 9 ounces to 2 lbs MORE than the fish was reported on July 9, 1955. I saw Justin Hall's 8-4 that he as mounted sitting on his des, I have seen Billy's 10lb monster hanging on the wall at The One Stop, caught a 6-13 Smallie on July 3, 2010 and there is no other fish close to the world record. It is the real deal, Mr and Mrs Hayes are QUALITY people and have never taken one single penny from any vendor in hopes of sponshorship. Mr Hayes is CLASS and I am proud to say that I have met him and had a few photos taken with him as well as the record. My son did as well and he will really appreciate what that picture is as he gets older.

[QUOTE=waterdog101;424809]I like reading about walleyes, and I came across this story about world records on walleye, muskie, and smallmouth. thought some of you guys may find this interesting.[URL]http://www.in-fisherman.com/content/record-walleyes-today[/URL][/QUOTE]

Read the first few paragraphs of the article referenced above from In-Fishermen by Matt Straw and just had to stop! What a bunch of BS. Tried to find out when it was written, but no dates are given. Anyway, makes you wonder how much, if any research Straw did for the article.

[B][U]From an earlier post of mine:[/U][/B] Never knew there was such past controversy over David Hayes record Dale Hollow Smallmouth fish until recently while visiting Celina, Tn :confused: . So, I did some online research ;) and wanted to share the results.[I][U][B] In my opinion, the record did and does belong to David.[/B][/U][/I]

[B][I]Attached are links to 3 articles, which detail the history of his record catch in 1955, the disqualification in 1996 and reinstatement in 1999 by the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame and by the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) in 2005.[/I][/B]

[B]"The Case for David Hayes" - Bassmaster Magazine, October 2005[/B]
[URL="http://proxy.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmaster/members/insider/bmmarchive/story?page=b_fea_Hayes_record_BMM0510"][COLOR=#ff0000]http://proxy.espn.go.com/outdoors/ba...record_BMM0510[/COLOR][/URL]

[B]"Smallmouth Bass World Record Turns 50" - ESPN.com, December 2005[/B]
[URL="http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/fishing/columns/story?columnist=wilson_taylor&page=g_col_Wilson_smallie_record_turns-50"][COLOR=#ff0000]http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/f...ecord_turns-50[/COLOR][/URL]

[B]"IGFA Reinstates 50-Year-Old World Record Smallmouth, Chattanoogan.com, December 2005"[/B]
[URL="http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_77215.asp"][COLOR=#ff0000]http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_77215.asp[/COLOR][/URL]

[B][I]Attached are links to 3 articles, which detail the history of his record catch in 1955, the disqualification in 1996 and reinstatement in 1999 by the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame and by the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) in 2005.[/I][/B]

[B]"The Case for David Hayes" - Bassmaster Magazine, October 2005[/B]
[URL="http://proxy.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmaster/members/insider/bmmarchive/story?page=b_fea_Hayes_record_BMM0510"][COLOR=#ff0000]http://proxy.espn.go.com/outdoors/ba...record_BMM0510[/COLOR][/URL]

[B]"Smallmouth Bass World Record Turns 50" - ESPN.com, December 2005[/B]
[URL="http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/fishing/columns/story?columnist=wilson_taylor&page=g_col_Wilson_smallie_record_turns-50"][COLOR=#ff0000]http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/f...ecord_turns-50[/COLOR][/URL]

[B]"IGFA Reinstates 50-Year-Old World Record Smallmouth, Chattanoogan.com, December 2005"[/B]
[URL="http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_77215.asp"][COLOR=#ff0000]http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_77215.asp[/COLOR][/URL][/QUOTE]
Boone, thanks for the links, that was some good reading. never read the full story before. and my hats off to Mr. Hayes, for the record smallmouth. what a fish. :)

[QUOTE=elnutsmalljaws;424850]I don't have a clue about the Walleye or Muskie but will stand 110% behind David L. Hayes and his World Record Smallmouth. Met Mr. Hayes on 2 different occasions as well has his lovely wife this spring and anyone that spends more than 2 minutes in the same room with this couple will swear on a stack of Bibles that the record is legit. I saw the fish in person, and there is no picture that I had ever seen before or seen since that does this fish justice. I have seen and held many 5 pounders and 5 more that went over 6 lbs plus have seen Billy Westmoreland's 10 pounder mount and this 11-15 lb Smallmouth is so FREAKISHLY larger than any other fish I have seen that it is unbelievable. The Smallmouth World Record fish is legit.[/QUOTE]


I spent an entire afternoon at Mr. Hayes house back in March, doing an interview and photo shoot for a magazine article. Everything that Elwood states above I will second. One of the kindest funniest men I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. When you see this fish, there is no doubt it is as big as reported. There are some people in Tennessee that started this whole controversy that need to be smacked around. Thank goodness that the hard work of TWRA's Ron Fox for doing dilligent work and the IGFA eventually came to its senses.