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Jeremy Harcrow caught a record-setting 10 pound, 10 ounce channel catfish in February. Harcrow is a founder of Heart of Texas Fishing and is involved with food and toy drives in Central Texas, and also works to get more people involved in fishing.
When I was growing up, I was always breaking or bending up my glasses. I played about every sport that was around, and also spent time running through the woods like an infantryman, and about half of my school photos look like I had just been hit in the face with a basketball.
Once, while fishing at Lake Waco on a hot summer afternoon, I decided to cool off by taking a swim, and as I dropped over the edge of the boat into the water, my glasses got swept off my face by the splash. I could see them wobbling downward through the water, and began grabbing at them, thrashing around wildly like I was having some kind of conniption. Luckily I was able to kick them up and into my hand before they sunk to the bottom.
Once I got back on board, I came up with an idea to avoid that happening again, and so I broke off a couple of chunks from a styrofoam cooler lid and ran the earpieces of the glasses frame through them, allowing them to float in the water.
A couple of days later, I had gotten some plastic tubing and crafted a glasses flotation device that my friend Spencer called the Opti-Float (named after Steve Martin\u2019s Opti-Grab), and I didn\u2019t need to worry about losing my glasses even if I did a cannonball off the back of the boat.
But unlike Steve Martin\u2019s character, I didn\u2019t market my invention. A few years later, though, somebody did and got rich from it. Sometimes, necessity is a mother.
There are lots of things out there just waiting to be had, including some easy ways into the fishing record books. Most lakes have a pretty high threshold for setting new records for largemouth bass, but there are so many species and categories that are either unfilled or claimed by somebody\u2019s small fish that if you take the time to get your catch officially weighed, you could probably set a new water body record in the course of a weekend.
For example, I know that I\u2019ve caught a freshwater drum that weighed more than 5.80 pounds from Lake Waco, but I didn\u2019t feel like hauling a big gaspergou to Academy to get it weighed on the official scales because I was busy catching crappie for a fish fry when that whopping drum swam by and made me think I had a wall-hanger largemouth on the line.
If you use a flyrod or are a junior angler, the water body record bars are generally set pretty low for Central Texas waters. In fact, the Junior Angler largemouth bass record for Lake Brazos is 2 pounds, and surely some fly fisherman has caught a white bass bigger than 1.3 pounds from Lake Waco over the past five years.
The thing about catching a record-breaking fish \u2014 or coming up with a multi-million dollar idea \u2014 is that you can\u2019t collect the prize if you don\u2019t put yourself out there.
You say you\u2019re a good bass fisherman? Want to put some money where your mouth is? Well, the Big Sticks Bass Club Open Tournament this Saturday at Lake Waco will let you see how you measure up against top Central Texas anglers.
The tourney will be headquartered at the Speegleville boat ramp (marina), and cost for entry is $60 per team. There\u2019s also a $10 raffle for a half day guided fishing trip with Hooked Up Outdoors. The tourney runs from first light through 3 p.m., and the raffle prize will be awarded after weigh-in. There\u2019s a guaranteed $1,000 prize for the winner, and payout for other finishers will be determined by the number of teams competing.
For more information, call 254-855-9619.
Nothing can ruin a day in the outdoors like a careless accident, but the right preparation and practicing safety will almost always keep those problems beyond arm\u2019s length.
Some things to remember are making sure your fishing license and boat registration are current, having safety gear on board (fire extinguisher, flotation devices, functioning lights and horn, first aid kit, sunscreen\/insect repellent, etc.), and good boating, fishing, and swimming practices.
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Jeremy Harcrow caught a record-setting 10 pound, 10 ounce channel catfish in February. Harcrow is a founder of Heart of Texas Fishing and is involved with food and toy drives in Central Texas, and also works to get more people involved in fishing.
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