11-year-old from Aurora catches state record smallmouth bass
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- Created on Wednesday, 24 November 2010 19:35
- Written by Nathan
Conner Peitsmeyer, 11, of Aurora likely won't remember the chill of the 35-degree air on the morning of Nov. 12. What he will remember is catching a state record smallmouth bass.
Conner was fishing at Aurora Reservoir with his dad, Michael Peitsmeyer, in the family's fishing boat that Friday morning. A few days before, Conner had landed his first 'big fish' in the same area, a smallmouth that was more than five pounds. But nothing prepared Conner for the 20¾ inch, 6-pound, 8-ounce monster he would pull from the water that morning.
"We had caught quite a few big bass that week, so we knew they were in there," said Michael. "When he caught that first big one, Conner told me he was shaking, but he wasn't sure if it was from the cold or from the excitement."
Conner's catch eclipses the previous state record smallmouth, a 21-inch, 5-pound, 12-ounce bass caught by Carl Dewey at Navajo Reservoir in 1993.
The bass isn't the only state record fish caught at Aurora Reservoir this fall. On Oct. 4, 20-year-old Jessica Walton, landed a 43-pound channel catfish at the reservoir east of Denver.
"Aurora Reservoir has ideal forage conditions to produce very large fish," said Paul Winkle, DOW aquatic biologist who manages the fishery. "There's an outstanding population of crayfish and yellow perch, which provides an excellent food source for fish to grow to enormous sizes."
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