Heartbreak on The
Heart River
After an investigation by the North
Dakota Game and Fish Department
(NDGFD), Tom Volk’s potentially record-
setting catch was not to be.
The Lincoln man would have shattered
the North Dakota walleye record of 15
pounds, 13 ounces (previously set by Neal
Leier in 2018) by close to a pound with a
16-pound, 9-ounce behemoth walleye
caught on April 21, but the NDGFD deter-
mined the fish was foul-hooked and there-
fore not eligible to be considered for state-
record status.
Volk, for his part, was fishing with a jig
and plastic and said he mouth-hooked the
fish, which then became tangled in the line
while he was fighting it. The fish was ini-
tially certified by the NDGFD but was later
reconsidered due to further investigation.
The agency has since changed its record-
keeping policies to implement a two-week
waiting period before any potential record-
setting catch is verified.
FALL 2019 I FLWFISHING.COM
Light Line, Large Fish
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (also known as the Pacific trash vortex) is the
“largest accumulation of ocean plastic in the world,” according to theoceancleanup.com.
Located between Hawaii and California, the incomprehensibly large mass of floating
debris (mostly in the form of discarded plastic) is somewhere between 1.15 million and
2.41 million metric tons in total and growing every day.
Recently, a number of environmentalists did their part to reduce that total, if only by a
fraction. In June, the group removed more than 40 tons of fishing net, along with about
two tons of other plastic that was donated to local artists to use in artwork to increase
awareness of ocean plastic pollution.
The 25-day expedition was carried out by volunteers of the Ocean Voyages Institute
and cost about $300,000. The group plans to carry out a longer three-month expedition
next year.
To learn more about Ocean Voyages Institute’s mission, visit
oceanvoyagesinstitute.org.
One Man’s Trash is Everyone’s Trash
There’s more than one way to catch a dou-
ble-digit bucketmouth.
Back in April, California angler Tracy Hartman
did something few bass anglers would even
dream of doing: She landed an 11-pound, 8-
ounce bass on 2-pound-test line.
During a trout tournament on Dixon Lake,
Hartman was casting around a Berkley mini jig on light line. When the jig hit bottom, she felt
the thump of a big bite and set the hook on a massive largemouth – her new personal best.
After a five-minute fight and some assistance from a fellow angler (who lent her a net)
and her son, Carson (who did the netting), Hartman found herself face to face with a
potential women’s world record for 2-pound-test line, pending International Game Fish
Association approval.
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