Jimmy Mason's weirdest catch was a Native American artifact.
"I once caught a Native American pot, a clay pot," The Alabama angler said. "I was fishing an old shell mound on Lake Pickwick in the winter with a grub and caught the inside of the clay pot. It was probably 90 percent intact."
Mason respectfully returned the item into the water from which it came.
ODD COUPLE COMPETING IN WBT EVENT
Traveling partners Violette Sesco and Mary Miday are bound to get noticed during this week's Women's Bassmaster Tour event at Arkansas' Lake Dardanelle.
At 81, Sesco is believed to be the oldest person fishing Bassmaster tournaments of any kind these days. She traveled from Ocala, Fla., to Russellville, Ark., and Lake Dardanelle with new friend Mary Miday, 77. The pair was introduced to each other by their mutual cardiologist.
Although Sesco fished the inaugural WBT season in 2006, this is Miday's first exposure to tournament fishing.
"I heard that she needed a companion, and I've always wanted to do that," Miday told the Ocala Star Banner newspaper. In reference to the final round at Dardanelle, she added, "We're hoping for a third day."
Sesco, who has more than 30 years of experience, received considerable attention last season as the oldest member of the WBT circuit. The former nurse said she fished her first tournament in 1978 while living in Texas.
These days, Sesco averages three or four days a week on central Florida lakes near her home in Citrus Springs. She competes on the WBT with the help of local sponsors that include her cardiologist, dentist, Nature Coast Orthopedists and Sports Medicine, and Advanced Hearing Aid Center.
MARTENS' BIG CATCH
No, not the five bass weighing 30 pounds, 11 ounces Aaron Martens caught in the third round of the Bassmaster Elite Series' Duel in the Delta last weekend on the California Delta.
Wife, Leslie, gave birth to a baby boy named Spencer earlier in the week.
"She told me I'd better do good," Martens told the Stockton Record. "This has been a real special week."
THIS GUY IS GOOD
No one is better at salvaging a positive out of a negative than Kevin VanDam.
Case in point: In the third round on the Delta, the two-time Bassmaster Classic champion ran into a submerged object that tore a gapping hole in the side of his boat.
His bilge pump could not keep up with the water entering the boat. Instead of panicking, KVD called for help. While waiting for a replacement boat, he put the trolling motor down and managed to catch two bass before help arrived.
Remarkably, VanDam finished with a catch of 22 pounds, 4 ounces to make the top-12 cut for the final round.
DID YOU KNOW?
Brian Clark, winner of the recent Bassmaster Central Open on Lake Texoma, is a former professional rodeo cowboy. His specialty was bull riding.
IF I HADN'T BECOME A BASS PRO
Pro Stephen Browning says he would likely still be working for the state of Arkansas as an inspector of wastewater treatment plants.
THEY SAID IT
"I'd like to remove the word 'lucky' from the vocabulary. Luck is important, but the most important element is your mind and your ability to analyze the behavior of the fish." Reigning Bassmaster Angler of the Year Michael Iaconelli downplayed the element of luck in an interview with the Stockton Record newspaper.