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Tournament News Powered By Lake Drive MarineTournament News Powered By Lake Drive Marine

By Louie Stout

Rex Remington of Freeland, Ind. with new Indiana record smallmouth bassRex Remington of Freeland, Ind. with new Indiana record smallmouth bass

It’s official. Indiana has a new smallmouth bass record.

Rex Remington of Freeland, Ind. caught the 8.23-pound smallmouth from Lake Monroe on March 5. The fish measured 23 inches and had a 17½-inch girth.

No one was more surprised than the 60-year-old angler who lives 30 minutes from the lake. He thought the big fish he hooked was a largemouth until he got it into the bottom of his 2004 Skeeter bass boat.

Remington was fishing a Berkley Stunna jerkbait on a rocky bank near a channel swing around 11 a.m. when the bass hit. His boat was sitting in about 10 feet of water and he was casting at a 45-degree angle.

“I caught a small largemouth, lost one and caught one about 4 pounds there,” says Remington, who has fished Monroe for 30 years. “So I knew I was in a good area.”

With the water temperature hovering at 45 degrees, he was working the jerkbait slowly; two twitches and a long pause.

When he tried twitching again, the bait didn’t move. He jerked his St. Croix rod and the battle was on. He fished with an “old” Quantum reel and 12-pound Seaguar InvizX line.

“I knew it was a big fish but had no idea it was a smallmouth,” recalls Remington, who has a few caught nice smallmouth from the lake. “He bulldogged pretty good and ran my drag, but I eventually got the fish into the net.”

By Al McGuckin

Geral Swindle and his wife Geral Swindle and his wife

Team Toyota’s Gerald Swindle returned to the boat ramp Tuesday evening at Lake Fork following another long day of practice with a torn-up transducer and healthy heart for the woman he loves.

“I spent 80% of my first day of practice here staring at the sonar screen, and then 45 minutes into today, I broke off a transducer. So, I went to the bank and swam a jig, and my head’s a lot freer now,” said Swindle, as the sun slipped deep in the Northeast Texas sky.

Swindle has spent the past two years working on his forward-facing sonar game, he wants fans to know he’s not harshly opposed to the technology, but he’s also a realist and a 2-time Bassmaster Angler of the Year winner who knows you simply can’t ditch the girl who brought you to the dance to chase the popular queen.

BFHOF Report

2024 Bass Fishing Hall of Fame Inductee Mark Zona2024 Bass Fishing Hall of Fame Inductee Mark Zona

The Bass Fishing Hall of Fame announced today that Mark Zona will be among five inductees into the 2024 Bass Fishing Hall of Fame this fall.

Other inductees include Fred Arbogast, Mike McKinnis, Skeet Reese, and Alfred Williams. They were selected in balloting conducted by the Hall of Fame’s 30-member Selection Panel and living Hall of Fame inductees. The new additions will bring the total number of Hall of Fame inductees to 100.  

The new class was chosen from a 12-man ballot that included a mix of dynamic personalities, on-the-water competitors, off-the-water innovators, and trailblazers. Seventy-seven ballots were circulated to those with voting privileges and 59 were returned, the most since the Hall of Fame began allowing living members of the Hall of Fame to vote in 2022.

Zona, 51, makes his home near Sturgis, Mich. and has been one of the leading voices and personalities in bass fishing since the early 2000s, either in his role as analyst for Bassmaster tournaments or as host of the popular “Zona’s Awesome Fishing Show.” Known for his spontaneity and high-energy manner, Zona will join longtime broadcast partner Tommy Sanders (2018) in the Hall.  

The Class of 2024 will be honored later this year during Celebrate Bass Fishing Week, which will be highlighted by the induction banquet on Sept. 26 at Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife National Museum & Aquarium in Springfield, Mo.  

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