One of the first articles to stand up for David Hayes appeared on Fishin.com years before the articles in Bass Pro. I am not sure that the articles are still up on this site, but a copy can be seen at www.WorldRecordSmallmouth.com, Jim Dicken (Me) wrote the article in the late 90's or early 2000 after talking to several people around Dale Hollow, and to the Head of fisheries for the Department of Fish and Wildlife in Tennessee. All the same info in the Bass Masters Article Appeared here on Fishin.com FIRST.


Quote Originally Posted by Boone View Post
typo in title, should be Hayes, not Haynes....editor does not allow correction

Never knew there was such past controversy over David Hayes record Dale Hollow Smallmouth fish until recently while visiting Celina, Tn . Then more recently, responses to Bonefish's post on the board brought it to my attention again. So, I did some online research and wanted to share the results. In my opinion, the record did and does belong to David.

PS: David Haynes passed away earlier this year.

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.

"The Case for David Hayes" - Bassmaster Magazine, October 2005
http://proxy.espn.go.com/outdoors/ba...record_BMM0510

"Smallmouth Bass World Record Turns 50" - ESPN.com, December 2005
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/f...ecord_turns-50

"IGFA Reinstates 50-Year-Old World Record Smallmouth, Chattanoogan.com, December 2005"
http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_77215.asp