FRANKFORT, Ky. — "Good Friday turned into a great Friday for me."
Mark Ward, from Evarts, KY got quite the catch when he visited Highsplint Lake in Harlan County last week.
Ward caught a 14-pound, 9.5-ounce largemouth bass on April 19, surpassing the previous Kentucky state record set by Dale Wilson in 1984. Ward's bass measured 26.8 inches long with a girth of 22.5 inches.
Ward went to Highsplint Lake after the rain cleared on Good Friday with his wife and 9-month-old daughter. Using a 6-inch Junebug-colored lizard, he tried for a 4-pound bass that he spotted in the shallows.
"Then, another came in and looked like a big log. The 4-pound fish triggered her to pick it up. I set the hook and it was on," Ward said.
The 14-pound fish was quite the sight for local wildlife officials. Kevin Frey, the Eastern Fisheries District Coordinator for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Services, said that the massive eyes of the fish took him by surprise.
"It would look like a shark if you saw it swimming in the water," Frey said.
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