Read about a new uncertified world-record bass caught in the “Area 51 of Bass Fishing.”
Learn about the new fish-to-food ratio needed to grow a world-record bass.
Read a great American story. One reader said, “Not only is American BeheMouth a great story, but it is great literature.”
The spring started with the release of American BeheMouth, the story of how this incredible bass fishery was created. The release of the book brought some great acclaim from fishing industry experts and writers, but also from readers who are not fishermen. It also brought unwanted tourism and poachers to the lake. Fortunately, the lake is not fished out yet. In fact, it is teeming with explosive action.
Despite the extremely hot weather and the die-off of most of the feeder trout, bass 10-28 pounds could be seen exploding on threadfin, chub suckers, and bluegill. A couple people had the chance to fish the lake with incredible results. An uncertified Kentucky state record was caught, 18 + pounds, along with many others in the teens. This was just from a few hours of fishing. The world-record bass, Elise, has also been seen twice, so we know she is still alive.
Purchase the book to learn more about this incredible fishery in the Ebook. Paperback.
Read the most recent blog on Clear Lake, California.
Here is the setup used on the lake to land these huge bass. A Shimano Curado 300E with 60-pound braid and a 20-pound flurocarbon leader. I use a 7’6″ ALL STAR rod that I also use for musky fishing.
In a rare moment yesterday, the world-record-sized bass, called Elise, showed herself in the spring-fed portion of the lake at feeding time. The cooler temperatures of the spring-fed water and the feeding drew her there. The water has also been clearer than normal, which allowed the sighting.
At 6:00 A.M. the feeders went off, and small bluegill and medium-sized chub suckers were tossed out. Elise was seen as she emerged from the bottom to inhale some chub suckers, still stunned from being in a bucket. The water in that portion of the lake is only 12 feet deep, but it is shaded and fed by a natural spring with water in the 56-58 degree range, cooling that cove significantly. With day time air temperatures 90-110 over the past few weeks, that put the surface lake temperature in the 80s to even low 90s in a few places in direct sunlight. Elise was obviously looking for a cooler spot; she may have even been hiding there out of sight for a while.
The next day, one giant bass was caught on a trout swimbait.
The “Lake of Dreams,” a private 70-acre lake in Kentucky in an undisclosed location, has been referred to as the “Area 51 of Bass Fishing.” The lake was created by two fisheries hobbyists and a fisheries biologist from Southern Illinois University. The Lake did not have a name until a reader of “American BeheMouth” pointed out the similarities to Kevin Costner’s film “Field of Dreams.” Remember, “build it (a baseball field) and they will come,” and baseball’s hall of famers somehow show up.
For the “Lake of Dreams” only the giant bass and poachers have showed up. There are bass in the lake that weigh 18-20+ pounds. Not just a few. Hundreds. A few celebrity bass pros and experts you would recognize have offered to come and “take a look.” Oh, geez, thanks. But no one has offered to come and pay to fish at a lake like this. There is a stigma about pay lakes; instead, this lake is something reserved for dreams. In fact, only one person, now two (fishing for one hour), have fished this lake for just a handful of hours total. In that time, one world record was landed.
How much would you pay to fish in a lake like this? What is the world record bass really worth? We have already proven it is not worth one million dollars. No one is paying that.
Building the lake was inspired by C.J. Covington, who came up with the idea to build Rend Lake in Southern Illinois. He served as the Chairman of the Board of the Rend Lake Conservancy District until the project’s completion. The “Lake of Dreams” was created in memory of him. It’s every fisherman’s dream to have a lake like this.
Read a sample chapter from “American BeheMouth” telling more on how the lake was built.
Read more about how the lake was created. Learn the formula for raising the world-record behemouth bass. Get the book in paperback.
The “Lake of Dreams” experienced a significant trout kill following 110+ degree temperatures last week. Although trout have not been stocked recently, most of the remaining trout in the lake died off, including a huge 6-pound rainbow trout.
“This may not be such a bad thing,” Billy Hutchinson said. Hutchinson maintains the lake full time and said, “Although losing the trout was disheartening, it seemed to be trout that were too big for bass food any way.” These were the trout that had somehow eluded the trophy bass and lived in hiding out deep. Some of the smaller trout may still be alive in the cooler waters under a deep cove area that is fed by a cool underground spring.
Despite the loss of trout, the threadfin shad are thriving, and the bass are really going bananas at peak feeding times. Additionally, the lake continues to stock chub suckers to feed the 15-pound plus bass and one bass that weighs somewhere close to 30 pounds. The fish has only been caught once, and at that time it weighed 27 pounds. The fish has been seen in recent months.
It has been more difficult to keep poachers off the lake since the publication of American BeheMouth, the new book that chronicles how the lake was created and the world-record fish was raised. Jason Covington, the author, points out, “If you want to catch a world-record bass that bad, build your own lake and catch it. You can follow the formula I provide in the book. Or else give me that million dollars we’ve been told would come with a fish like this.”
The new book, American BeheMouth, highlights ethical dilemmas in modern American sports, including doping, financial chaos, and asterisked world records.
Through the fishing story of an egocentric fisheries hobbyist who raises the world record bass, the author, Jason Covington, points out problems with world records and performance-enhancing drugs in American sports, including baseball.
The book chronicles how a world-record 27-pound bass was raised and caught in a private lake, following several short cuts, including chemically spraying the lake. The book contains the actual formula for how the fish was raised and can be duplicated. Covington calls out the biggest problem in American sports—that we passed up the pleasure of the sport for the economics, allowing financial considerations to supersede the reason we love the sport. The competitive desire to be bigger and better has morphed into something grotesque.
Some of the broader themes in the book include the real value and financial feasibility of some of these sports endeavours, including stadiums, which may turn out to be like other economic bubbles in the American economy. The “build it (at any cost) and they will come” theme in this “Lake of Dreams” is similar to themes found in the film “Field of Dreams” with a twist. Through the protagonist, Covington shows how men’s egos in American sports have taken us off balance in our goals and values. In some cases, we have been looking up to cheaters as our heroes.
The author warns that we have fallen out of balance in pursuing “the American dream,” resulting in disintegrating families, credit card debt, and compulsive behavior. “American BeheMouth” shows conflicting values of Americans struggling to do it all while trying to stay balanced. How do we innovate and achieve great things without becoming despicable cheats or taking questionable short cuts in life?
Read the blog on Doping in American Sports
For a review copy of the book or for more information, contact jason_cov@msn.com
The American BeheMouth site contains free content about a world-record sized bass that swims in a private lake (the Area 51 of Bass Fishing). On the Excerpts tab, I have 9 chapters for you to enjoy. I also just finished the draft of new content on Lake Toho from the next book.
You can also read 50% of the book on Google Play!
Sample Chapters to Preview:
The Greatest Bass Fishery Ever
Enjoy the free content. If you like it, you can purchase the full story in paperback or in EBook format.
Also, here’s the blog on many topics about bass fishing and the “Lake of Dreams.”
Here are some recent blog posts related to American BeheMouth.
What’s Wrong with Bass Tournaments? Discusses the fisheries mismanagement issues related to bass tournaments. The articles offers great solutions including going to a digital format, where bass are released at the boat immediately.
Austerity measures for a balanced economy. Like Jay in American BeheMouth and shown in the metaphor of the bloated bass, our bloated government is going to have to take on austerity measures like Estonia in order to get out of this slump.
Build it (at any cost) and they will come. This blog shows the idiot thinking of building more and more, without any considerations as to cost or return, including stadium projects and other shameful government spending. Jay, in American BeheMouth, is also a good example of building beyond his means.
The Economics of Bass Fishing. For anyone considering going pro, please reconsider. The article shows who is making the money at your expense. The system is rigged, just like our economy. Remember the old saying, “This lure catches more fisherman than fish?” It’s true across the board.
American BeheMouth and Doping in Sports. Just like doping in baseball and cycling, fishing has its cheaters too. I point out comparison in sports and government.
Imagine a lake where every cast creates a swirl from a monster bass in the 11-15 pound range. Some casts result in landing your biggest bass ever. A targeted hunt can yield the next world-record bass, over 27 pounds. Welcome to a 70-acre lake in Kentucky in an undisclosed location, the “Area 51 of Bass Fishing.”
The lake was created by two fisheries hobbyists and a fisheries biologist from Southern Illinois University. After setbacks and issues, the lake is teeming.
Read a sample chapter on how the lake was built.
Read more about how the lake was created. Learn the formula for raising the world-record behemouth bass. Get the book in paperback.
Read newly-drafted content about Lake Toho! The newly-drafted content discusses a true account of fishing Lake Toho in 2002. Even though Lake Toho is considered one of the premiere fishing lakes in the country, it does not compare to the Lake of Dreams. The Florida bass are long and giant, but they do not have the right fish-to-food ratio for many of them to grow over 15 pounds. In one scene here, Bob takes us to a one-acre spot with 100-150 bass 10-15 pounds each that helped Dean Rojas win the Bassmaster Top 150 in 2001.
Here are the most common questions from American BeheMouth fans. Click to link to the answers.
How did the lake where the world-record bass was caught come about? Why Kentucky?
“How many people have fished the Lake of Dreams?”
“How much money did it take to build and stock the lake?”
“Does the behemouth come when you call it?”
“Is this world-record behemouth bass still alive?”
Have you considered having the Bassmaster Classic at the “Lake of Dreams”?