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Lake Fork youth catch-and-release bass record PDF Print E-mail
Written by Craig Nyhus   
Thursday, 24 April 2008
Cody Clark shows his youth lake record for a catch-and-release bass for Lake Fork, an 11.68-pounder. Photo by Greg Clark.
Cody Clark shows his youth lake record for a catch-and-release bass for Lake Fork, an 11.68-pounder. Photo by Greg Clark.
Wills Point 16-year-old catches 11.68 pounder

When Cody Clark of Wills Point was still in diapers, he played on the floor of the boat while his father, Greg Clark, fished, and they have fished together ever since. And on March 21, at age 16, he landed a Lake Fork youth record catch-and-release largemouth.

“We had been on a short trip for spring break and got back on Thursday,” Cody said. “Our neighbor Tim Wooldridge and his son were going fishing in the morning and asked me to go.”

Things happened quickly after daybreak. “We launched the boat and Tim drove it around a corner under the bridge and we tied on our lures,” he said. “Then we came back under the bridge and fished the banks toward some docks where there were some grass beds.

“Tim was looking at his lake map when I felt a big thump,” he said. “I pulled up and jerked and she was on.” Cody said he remained pretty calm. “I told Tim this was a big one and I kept my rod down so she wouldn’t jump.”

A few minutes later, the big fish came to the net. “We hadn’t been fishing more than 15 or 20 minutes,” Cody said.

After the fish was landed, Wooldridge said they needed to get to Lake Fork Marina to weigh the fish. “We headed straight there — we were pretty excited,” Cody said.

On the certified scale, the fish weighed 11.68 pounds and measured 25 1/8-inches long, a youth lake record for a catch-and-release bass, and the applications have already been sent to Texas Parks and Wildlife.

His father may be the person most excited about the catch. “It was one of the few times I hadn’t been with him on the water,” Greg Clark said. “He called the house and I heard my wife screaming. I thought something bad had happened at first. Then she started yelling about the weight. I told her to give me the phone.”

Cody used a 5-inch Texas-rigged black and blue fleck Tiki Stick to catch the fish.

But it was the rod and reel used that was most special. “I used to go to Smitty’s Sporting Goods in Oak Cliff a lot,” Greg Clark said. “After it closed, the owner, Franklin Smith, moved nearby with his son, Jimmy, and we became close friends.

“After Franklin died about five years ago, Jimmy gave Cody his dad’s rod and reel,” he said. “It was a Shimano Calcutta reel on a G.

Loomis rod. Jimmy told Cody to promise to take care of it.”

After Cody caught the fish, his father asked him what rod and reel he used. “Cody just smiled and said, ‘I used Smitty’s rod.’”

A replica of the fish is being made. “I had promised if he ever caught one over 8 pounds, I would get a replica made for him,” Greg Clark said. “He caught the fish on Good Friday, and Saturday morning I was at Lake Fork Taxidermy.”

The father-son pair plans to keep fishing together. “My dad and I may fish Bass Champs next year,” Cody said.

But young Cody is taking the big news in stride. “The guys at school tell me it’s been something I’ve been waiting for a long time,” he said. “The girls don’t seem to care — I still tell them though.”
Last Updated ( Friday, 25 April 2008 )
 
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