What is it that stands between an angler and destiny? With many choices in spots and then spots on the spot to cast, what is it that makes one angler successful and leaves others empty handed?

While many bass anglers are happy to catch numbers of bass, a few dedicated crusaders are totally focused on catching one bass -the one that breaks the 69-year-old record set by George Perry on June 2, 1932. Breaking Perry's 22-pound 4-ounce largemouth record has been the goal of this cadre of arduous anglers. Much to the chagrin of these hardworking devotees, in recent years, many near-record fish have been caught without the prerequisite number of hours on the water necessary to satisfy the criteria for success as dictated by those who haven't caught one.

For Dan Sheehy, an attorney practicing estate law in Colorado, it was simply a fateful handoff. "I was in Florida, in February, with a group of Westminster College (Fulton, MO) friends, that I graduated with in 1965. There are about 12 to 15 of us that have kept in touch, and every year we get together somewhere."

Most of his college cohorts play golf, but Sheehy and two members of the group who don't care for golf, hired a guide and went fishing.

"We started out with a 70-mph boat ride, and fished from 8:30 a.m. to about 3 in the afternoon. We were fishing live shiners and I only caught two fish that day, but I wasn't disappointed," he said. One was a 10 ½-pounder, but the fish of the day, and of Dan's entire fishing career, measured 30" with a 22 ½" girth. Based on charts developed by marine biologists, the weight of this big largemouth would be between 18 and 19 pounds. While under the uncertified Florida state record of 20-pounds 13-ounces, it would probably have easily broken the "official" record of 17-pounds 4-ounces. In the record business, certified is all that matters.

"The guide said that the fish was a female that was ready to spawn, and probably would not survive the process of getting it certified, so I let her go," he said. "I certainly don't regret releasing it. It was a beautiful fish, and I did nothing to deserve catching it. When we got to the spot where we were going to fish, the guide took a huge shiner, hooked it through the lips, released it, and handed me the rod. We didn't cast them, but let them swim free. After a while, the shiner became very nervous. My guess is that it was because it was seeing a fish that was bigger than it had ever seen," he said. It was the last thing that shiner ever saw.

"When we turned it loose, and I told my buddies that they could fish all their life and not catch one that big, that didn't sit well with them."

For Sheehy, his time spent on Crooked Lake, near Orlando, will be a hard act to follow. "Mostly, I fly-fish, and not very well," he said. "We were using 30-pound test line, and it didn't give the fight I expected until it got near the boat, and then it gave such an enormous pull that I almost went over the side."

While Sheehy was "free lining" his shiner, another technique also works well, especially where heavy underwater vegetation makes fishing difficult. Tying a fully inflated party balloon to the line, at the desired depth, will keep the shiner just above the top of the grass, tempting big bass to rise for an oversized offering.

Simply rig your shiner with an Eagle Claw L144 hook, which is specially designed for large live bait presentations. You can hook the shiner just behind the dorsal fin, which allows it to swim in a relatively natural position. The other option is to hook the shiner up through the bottom lip and out of the top lip. This technique also allows the shiner to swim freely, but is most effective when free-lining when you want it to burrow deep within the honeycomb maze of grass. When using a balloon, you'll want to blow it up to a point just before it pops, so that when a bass takes the bait, it will pop with only a slight pull under the surface where the pressure increases dramatically.

Shiner fishing isn't for everyone. Certainly, an extra large shiner will cull out smaller fish, but the wait can be less than an exciting process. Bring a good book, or better yet, let the shiner do its thing while you work baits that require more action.

For big fish, the concept is simple. Big bait = big fish. Biggest bait = biggest fish. The Castaic line of soft baits is an excellent choice for tempting monster 'mouths. Named after the famous lake in California, where several near-record bass have been caught in recent years, these baits are very lifelike in appearance, as well as movement and the size is just right for culling wannabes. The perch is a mainstay of the bass diet, and this 7" bait is just the right size to make it too hard to say no to. Castaic soft baits are also available in Perch, Green Shad, Blue Shad, Rainbow Trout in 4", 6" and 8" versions.

Luhr-Jensen, long noted for their famous big fish baits, has hit a home run with their AC Plugs. You'll need a sturdy casting rig to hurl these monsters, and the side benefit is some major distance when you rocket one across the water. These lures are double jointed, with soft tails that wiggle erratically, giving them a very realistic appearance. Their sloped noses pull them deep when cranked hard, but they float slowly to the surface when halted, simulating a wounded baitfish. AC's are available in a wide variety of colors that emulate specific species and compensate for various water coloration and conditions.

For deep water, where you need to get down to fish holding on structure along the bottom, you can't beat a bait that is realistic and heavy headed. Livin' Eye jigheads, rigged with paddletail and actiontail shads look so realistic that you will expect them to swim off. These jigheads feature a unique prismatic holographic finish and life-like eyes that put the finishing touches on realism. Lead jigheads up to 1 3/8-ounce, rigged with a 6" rainbow trout might be just the bait that puts the next world record bass on the scales.

One of the characteristics of big bass is that they can and will eat anything they want, and that includes snakes that make the mistake of swimming too slowly in their territory. With a 12-inch Culprit worm, Carolina rigged, you can work the deep, summer haunts of fat fish and just maybe you'll snake your way ahead of George Perry.

Culprit also makes two other options that are great for big bass. Jigs rigged with crank trailers and craw trailers are good options for working the openings in heavy cover where lunkers lurk. Culprit's Chunk Claw and Pro Style lizard come in a wide array of colors that should meet any water or depth considerations. Both of these baits come in jumbo sizes.

When it comes to Perry's long ride in the lead car of the bass record roller coaster, it's just a matter of time. While a vigorous debate is ongoing over which state the next record will come from, all of them are in the sunshine belt that under girds the nation's lower girth. All you need to do is pick the state, water and bait of your choice and settle the discussion the only way it will ever be resolved -by catching a bass that is just a hair over 22-pounds 4-ounces. Then you'll be at the top, and everyone will be discussing how to get your name moved down a peg or two. Nice place to be, but will the next record holder have the title for 69 years? The answer to that question lies in how high the bar is raised.

Frank Ross grew up on a lake in Florida, where fishing and hunting were second nature. He has pursued his passion from the jungles of South America to the northern reaches of the Arctic Circle and most points in between. With a background in newspapers, the wire services and magazines that began in 1970, Frank brings a unique perspective to his work with Cabela's. He is an award-winning photographer with a flair for getting to the bottom line of every story.

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