VICTORIA, Minn. - The largemouth bass has been the subject of plenty of Minnesota fish stories, with more than one fraudulent pretender to the claim of biggest ever caught in the state.
There was the largemouth that was actually caught in Florida and transported here. There was the fisherman who submitted only a photo, claiming his dog ate the fish itself, and the angler who hooked what he said was a record largemouth - outside the bass fishing season.
But Mark Raveling hooked a bass Monday that looks to be on the up-and-up - and headed for a state record.
Raveling, 54, of Spring Park, was casting a buzz bait on tiny Auburn Lake near Victoria, about 20 miles west of Minneapolis. Raveling has been a tournament bass angler for more than 20 years.
Using 40-pound-test line, Raveling pulled the potbellied largemouth to his boat and preliminarily weighed it at 8 pounds, 15 ounces. That topped the current record of 8 pounds, 12.75 ounces, caught in October 1994 at Tetonka Lake in LeSueur County.
The big fish was verified on a scale at a local sporting goods shop and formally identified by a state biologist.
Next stop? Said Raveling: "I might get the fish into the aquarium at the new Cabela's store in Rogers."
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There was the largemouth that was actually caught in Florida and transported here. There was the fisherman who submitted only a photo, claiming his dog ate the fish itself, and the angler who hooked what he said was a record largemouth - outside the bass fishing season.
But Mark Raveling hooked a bass Monday that looks to be on the up-and-up - and headed for a state record.
Raveling, 54, of Spring Park, was casting a buzz bait on tiny Auburn Lake near Victoria, about 20 miles west of Minneapolis. Raveling has been a tournament bass angler for more than 20 years.
Using 40-pound-test line, Raveling pulled the potbellied largemouth to his boat and preliminarily weighed it at 8 pounds, 15 ounces. That topped the current record of 8 pounds, 12.75 ounces, caught in October 1994 at Tetonka Lake in LeSueur County.
The big fish was verified on a scale at a local sporting goods shop and formally identified by a state biologist.
Next stop? Said Raveling: "I might get the fish into the aquarium at the new Cabela's store in Rogers."
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