One day after Randy Howell set a new Bass Pro Tour Randy Howell set a new BPT weight record for an individual fish, he went out and did it again.
Howell’s rare big-fish heroics—catching two tour records on back-to-back days on different bodies of water—may very well be something unparalleled in the history of professional bass fishing.
After Howell wowed the bass fishing world off camera on Wednesday with his 10-pound, 11-ounce bass at Louisiana’s Caney Creek Reservoir, he one-upped himself on Thursday after the Championship Round moved over to Bussey Brake.
Like he had done barely 24 hours before, there was a magical thump at the end of the line and a fight to remember, this time with fans watching online.
Howell wrestled the giant double-digit lunker to the boat, got it to the surface, and then had a couple of heart-stopping moments as he tried to land the fish and avoid a penalty under the BPT’s fish-care rules.
Eventually, he was able to lip the huge bass (which had been enticed by a Yamamoto Senko), hoist it into the boat and wildly celebrate as the boat official let the scales do some talking to the tune of 12-14.
Not only was that Howell’s personal-best bass – for the second day in a row – but it was also a new lake record at Bussey Brake.
It also was a remarkable occurrence for the building history of the BPT, which saw a big-bass record fall a day later for the second time in the young tour’s history. The first time was back in the spring of 2020 when Justin Atkins’ 10-08 Lake Fork largemouth outdid the 10-04 fish that Jason Christie had caught the previous day.
Howell now knows the feeling, accomplishing something that is quite unlikely to happen again anytime soon.
“To say this was a memorable day would be an understatement,” said the elated Alabama pro in an Instagram post on Thursday evening. “I am so thankful and still can’t believe I caught my two biggest bass ever and two days in a row! Today’s 12-14 has blown my mind! Thanks to everyone for the comments, texts, calls, and posts!”
Later the same evening, the disbelieving Howell provided one last bit of context to his historic feats.
“Did I dream this happened?” he asked on Instagram. “Fishing keeps us coming back for more because you never know what that next bite could be! These Louisiana lakes are definitely special and are healthy fisheries! This is one of the most memorable weeks ever and I’m so thankful for it! My five takeaways this week: Take a kid fishing! Take care of the fisheries! #catchandrelease. Keep dreaming! Be thankful!”
Howell certainly has his own reasons to be thankful, to the tune of two back-to-back bass weighing more than 23 pounds combined. Yeah, that’s a dreamy week of bass fishing, no matter who you are.
– Lynn Burkhead
OSG Senior Digital Editor
