Every fisherman who has ever held a fishing rod has dreamed it. In your sleep, you see a fish of epic proportions. It breaks the glassy surface of the lake, throwing water droplets like showering glass. In typical dream fashion, in the next instant, you are standing before a cheering crowd, humbly accepting your award for catching a fish like no other that has ever been caught in all of time.
It may not play out exactly like that, but Cleveland’s Shane McKee is heading down that road.
On Monday, McKee was fishing Parksville Lake in Polk County with partner Kevin Drake. The two are arguably the best Parksville Lake bass anglers you’ll find, having prowled and scoured virtually every square inch of water, with every lure imaginable, for many years.
“At Parksville Lake, Kevin’s probably one of the best fishermen there is,” McKee said.
It is only fitting that McKee, with Drake’s help, will likely claim the next Tennessee record spotted bass. Weighing in at 6 pounds, 15 ounces on certified scales, the fish beats the existing spotted bass record by a full half-pound. The current record spotted bass was caught by professional FLW angler Wesley Strader.
McKee’s fish must be certified by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency first, and it seems the only thing that stands in the way of McKee and the record book would be a DNA analysis. Biologists must confirm the fish is a true spotted bass versus a rare largemouth/spot hybrid. Given the history of Parksville Lake, that shouldn’t be a problem. Both of the last two spotted bass records came from the same water. Keep reading about this great story at nooga.com….
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