Off the Hook: Youngster's goal is setting a state record

VIRGINIA BEACH

Kyle Sawyer wants to catch the heaviest largemouth bass ever caught in Virginia.

And he doesn't want to kill any fish in the process.

The state record largemouth is a 16-pound, 4-ounce bucketmouth caught from Connor Lake in 1985.

Sawyer, fishing in a small neighborhood pond in Virginia Beach, already has come pretty close.

Two weeks ago, Sawyer, a 13-year-old Independence Middle School eighth-grader, caught a bass that weighed 13 pounds on his digital scale.

Sawyer was throwing a firetiger (chartreuse with black stripes) colored Bomber Fat A crankbait along a shoreline that was about 4 feet deep when the monster hit. He was using 6-pound test line, making the catch an even bigger accomplishment.

"I was reeling and the rod tip just bent down," Sawyer said. "I didn't really even feel a strike. Like most big bass, it felt like a log or something. It didn't really fight much except for the times it jumped."

The fish was photographed and released.

Sawyer feels pretty confident about its weight. He says the scale's accuracy has been tested by using it to weigh objects that have a known weight.

"I released it because I thought it had eggs and I wanted it to be able to pass its genes onto its eggs," Sawyer said. "I'd also like to catch it when it is a couple more pounds.

"I'd really like to catch a state record."

Private ponds are an outstanding place to try. They often offer quality fishing and water that hasn't been pressured by many anglers. And those who do fish such waters usually don't fish seriously.

Sawyer does.

"I've fished since I was old enough to walk, I guess," he said. "I fish nearly every day."

Sawyer loves fishing so much that he gave up baseball a few years ago because it was interfering with angling.

"I've pretty much dedicated my life to fishing," Sawyer said. "It seemed like every time I had a baseball game, we were also planning to go fishing. I just had to make a choice."

Sawyer fishes mostly with his grandfather, Greg Sawyer, on the Lynnhaven River.

"We catch red drum, stingrays, bluefish... a little bit of everything," he said. "I usually fish with my granddad, but I fish with a few buddies every now and then. I have friends who fish - but not like I do."

When Sawyer does hit the water, he's a young man on a mission. He studies the bodies of water he plans to fish. He practices his casting techniques. And sometimes he even makes his own lures.

"I really like to do my research so that I know what I'm doing," he said. "And I love to tie my own flies for fly-fishing."

Sawyer said he is planning to save enough money to get a reproduction mount of his big bass.

"I've caught bigger saltwater fish, big stripers and stuff like that," he said. "And I've lost a few big bass in some of the lakes.

"But this is the fish I'm most proud of."