The Big Bass Podcast

In the winter of 1975, Walter Bolonis caught the Massachusetts state record largemouth bass ... through the ice! His 15-pound, 8-ounce lunker is not just the biggest ever recorded in Massachusetts, but also the biggest ever caught in New England and one of the largest northern strain largemouth bass from anywhere at all. The only Massachusetts largemouth coming within 2 pounds of Bolonis’ record i...

In this episode of The Big Bass Podcast, Ken and Terry talk about the different world record fish organizations as well as state offices, and what you need to know in order to register a record fish. They also discuss some of the crazy rules and differences between the institutions.

This week on The Big Bass Podcast, Terry and Ken talk with the man who was there at the start of the big bass explosion in California, Jim Brown. Brown was the San Diego City Park's Department manager from 1974 through 2003. Brown started his career working with Orville Ball and was there as a 14-year-old kid when the Florida bass fingerlings were planted into Upper Otay Reservoir. He helped trans...

This is the story of legendary comedian Junior Samples and how the story of a world record bass head got him a spot on the No. 1 variety show of the time, "Hee Haw." Sample supposedly caught a 22-09 largemouth bass at Lake Lanier in Georgia and was wearing the cut-off head as a hat one day at a drag race. Locals asked him what it was, and that was the start of a pretty incredible story.

This is the story of the pre-1950 smallmouth bass records caught by Walter Harden from Florida. Harden caught two world record smallmouth bass between 1931 and 1932, with numerous fish over 10 pounds reportedly caught. In this episode of The Big Bass Podcast, Ken and Terry go through the evidence as well as the biological traits known at the time and decide who was at fault for this misrepresented...

In this episode, The Big Bass Podcast hosts Terry Battisti and Ken Duke discuss the Florida bass experiment conducted in 1959 in San Diego, California. The story starts out with three friends fishing crappie on Lake Henshaw in Southern California, one of them wondering why the bass he caught in Florida were much bigger on average than the fish he caught in California. That question triggered an id...

This is the story of H.W. Ross and the 23 1/2-pound bass he reportedly caught in 1884 out of a lily-bound lake in Central Florida. In this episode, Ken Duke and Terry Battisti discuss the history of this fish, the man who caught it, and the controversy, or lack thereof, surrounding the catch. It's an amazing story of a fish that was recognized by Dr. James A. Henshall in his 1889 book, "More About...

Big bass fascinate us. We love catching them, looking at them, and hearing about them. Now, through “The Big Bass Podcast,” we also love telling about them. Hosts Ken Duke and Terry Battisti introduce you to the new show that tells the stories of some of the biggest and most important bass ever caught … or lost … or fabricated out of thin air. Debuting 1/3/2023 !