WYATT FRANKENS CAUGHT THE PENDING waterbody and State record hybrid smallmouth/largemouth bass in Lake O.H. Ivey in March. Weighing 7.9-pounds, it has been certified as the I.G.F.A. World Record. It has been erroneously called a “Mean-Mouthed Bass” which applies to a smallmouth/spotted bass hybrid. That term was created since several instances of aggressive behavior toward humans and dogs had been reported. (Photo courtesy of Wyatt Frankens)

by John Jefferson

My friend and frequent fishing partner, Shea Seale and I fished Lake Austin in mid-May in Shea’s fine Skeeter bass boat. Shea left it up to me to choose which lake to fish.

Being a little masochistic, I suggested Austin. In case that term is uncommon in most fishing articles, it means gratification gained from pain, deprivation suffering, and humiliation inflicted by one’s own actions.” That applies to fishing Austin.

Shea boated three small bass. I caught three, also. But mine were zebra mussels that my lure snagged while bouncing off something on the bottom!

Several years ago – before Lake Austin went on a spree of regularly spitting out 13-pound – plus largemouth bass that made it a go-to place for anglers hoping to catch a bass of that ilk – a fishing guide friend, Cody Wayne Greaney, asked me how I had done fishing on Austin the day before. I told him I caught an undersize bass and my partner had caught three barely keepers.

Cody commented, “That’s Lake Austin: you either catch a really nice bass, or just a few dinks.” It got even worse after the over-stocking of grass carp devasted the bass habitat. But fishing it was “gratifying” since Lake Austin is a beautiful lake to fish if you get on it before the power boats and leave before they crank up.

Shea’s third bass was a pretty one. About 12-13-inches long. Most Austin bass are handsome, but this one was unusual. It was a subtle shade of bronze. I remarked that it looked to me like a hybrid between a largemouth and a smallmouth. He released it before I thought about taking its picture.

This week, the Internet lit up with accounts of a man catching a “Mean-Mouthed Bass”. Accounts said it was a hybrid between a largemouth and a smallmouth. Some said that it was the Lake O.H. Ivey waterbody record, the State record AND the IGFA world record!

I called TPWD to confirm that. Seems there is no such record at this time for a hybrid smallmouth/largemouth, but the application is pending. TPWD assured me that it will be certified. Then, I called the angler, Wyatt Frankens, who lives in Corrigan in East Texas.

Mr. Frankens quickly corrected me when I called it a “Mean-Mouthed Bass”. According to Frankens, that term only applies to hybrids between a smallmouth and a SPOTTED bass. Not with a largemouth. IGFA has accepted it as a world record, however, and it will be the Ivey and State records when TPWD certifies it.

Frankens is a tournament angler and has fished most East Texas lakes and many others. He’s even caught a few other hybrids in Ivey. But none were as large as the one he caught in March. It went 7.9-pounds, although it sounds like his application said 7.6-pounds.

He caught it on MegaBass Magdraft ¾-ounce swimbait fishing 17-feet deep. He says lakes Belton and Texoma have hybrids, and he expects more big ones being caught.

Maybe even from Austin.

JJ