DENVER, Colo. - Conner Peitsmeyer, 11, of Aurora probably won't remember the chill of the 35-degree air on the morning of Nov. 12. What he will remember for a long time is catching the new Colorado state record smallmouth bass.
Conner was fishing at Aurora Reservoir with his dad, Michael Peitsmeyer, in the family's fishing boat that Friday morning. A few days before, Conner had landed his first 'big fish' in the same area, a smallmouth that was more than five pounds. But nothing prepared Conner for the 20¾ inch, 6-pound, 8-ounce monster he would pull from the water that morning.
"We had caught quite a few big bass that week, so we knew they were in there," said Michael. "When he caught that first big one, Conner told me he was shaking, but he wasn't sure if it was from the cold or from the excitement."
Conner's catch eclipses the previous state record smallmouth, a 21-inch, 5-pound, 12-ounce bass caught by Carl Dewey at Navajo Reservoir in 1993.
Link to photos below.
http://dnr.state.co.us/ImageDBImages/26076.JPG
http://dnr.state.co.us/ImageDBImages/26075.JPG
Matt's Rant: Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!
7 comments:
That's a whole lot of Smallmouth. Congratulations Conner.
Mark
Thanks for the comment, Mark! I really have mixed feelings about this catch as every time someone breaks a fishing record in this state it generates a lot of static for me. I estimate about 10 or 20 e-mails over the next week stating; “Matt, that kid stole your fish” or “So easy a kid could do it…what’s your malfunction?”
I’m kidding here, well sort of and do congratulate Conner immensely on this catch. Hopefully this catch helps Aurora Reservoir and does not increase the traffic too much. Boat traffic can get a bit crazy out here and I don’t fish here mostly for this reason.
Aurora Res. is a bit of a paradox to me as it receives so much traffic, managed as a bait and take fishery, receives as much abuse as any reservoir in Colorado yet can be an amazing fishery. The City of Aurora deserves a large amount of credit for maintaining this recreational area at this level. I congratulate and commend them as well.
You're making me feel like I'm neglecting some warm water fish. Me a bass fisherman...hmmm. Happy Thanksgiving!
How exciting for this young man.
Hopefully, he's hooked for life. Addicted to a fun, clean, rewarding sport...Fishing!
Would you look at the belly on that big guy! I dream of Smallmouth bigger than 12"s. This record fish puts most of mine to some severe shame. Congratulations to Connor.
It does not appear that the family took any pictures of the fish while it was alive.
I hope they have a good taxidermist.
I'm with Shaun. I wish there was a live shot of this dandy of a smallmouth. Congrats to Conner on landing a new record!-stephanie
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