Yeah, I'm thinking this guy is wishing he'd done things just a little bit differently

[Salt City Sooner]

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/mar/10/state-record-bass-turns-into-landmark-mess/

[salth2o]

dip stick...

dumb arse Arkansas hillbilly.

[StoopTroup]

They want you to register. Can you cut and paste that?

[yermom]

As of 4 p.m. Friday, I was finished with the item that was to fill this space and ready for a weekend of wall-to-wall crappie fishing.

I had written a feel-good column about springtime fishing, using Arkansas angler Paul Crowder's recent catch of a new state-record largemouth bass from Lake Dunn near the city of Wynne as my news peg.

Then at 7:30 p.m., I got word that Crowder's record had been abruptly erased from the history books.

Or to repeat the headline used on the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission website, the record had been "Un-Dunn."

It was the AGFC's clever way of announcing that Crowder's 16-pound, 5-ounce largemouth bass was caught illegally. Since Crowder didn't even have a fishing license when he landed the fish, the 36-year-old largemouth record of 16 pounds, 4 ounces belonging to Memphian Aaron Mardis will live on.

Instead of inspiring happy columns about all the big fish that are usually caught this time of year, Crowder is now the main character in a story that we'd probably all laugh about if it wasn't so depressing.

Instead of spending $10.50 on a resident fishing license and having his face splattered all over next year's AGFC fishing handbooks, Crowder will await a March 19 court date where he could be hit with a maximum fine of $1,000 and 30 days in jail.

Instead of having thousands of people ask him to recount the amazing story of how he landed the biggest largemouth bass in Arkansas history on a plastic worm with no dip net, Crowder will have to deal with thousands of people wondering out loud how he could have been so...

I'm not gonna finish that sentence.

You can insert your own harsh words there, deciding for yourself just how much cruelty this guy deserves.

But before you form your opinion, consider this:

Upon realizing what a deep-fried mess he was in, Crowder, perhaps believing he could still save face, went and sprung for a fishing license three hours after his historic catch.

The fish he killed illegally was a once-in-a-lifetime specimen with a whopping length of 26.5 inches and an incredible girth of 22.75 inches. It had a mouth that was almost as big around as the basketballs they were using at FedExForum for the Conference USA tournament, and a close-up photo of its gut made it look like it had swallowed a couple of those basketballs.

There's no telling how old a fish like that must have been, and there's no way to know if we'll ever see another one like that caught from Arkansas waters. Instead of hanging forever over Crowder's mantle, it was seized by AGFC officials and should forever be recognized as the worst victim in this whole sordid mess.

The other victims are the thousands of law-abiding Arkansas anglers who will likely never see a bass that big except in the now-infamous photos of Crowder.

Be honest.

The words you're using to finish that sentence from above are getting worse by the minute, aren't they?

Keep them to yourself -- and remember the name Paul Crowder if you ever try to fool yourself into believing that fishing without a license is no big deal.

THINK YOU'VE CAUGHT A RECORD?

Each state's conservation website has a list of instructions for people to follow when they believe they may have caught a record fish.

In Arkansas, visit agfc.com or call (501) 223-6300.

In Mississippi, visit mdwfp.com or call (601) 432-2400.

In Tennessee, visit tnwildlife.org or call (615) 781-6500.

© 2012 Memphis Commercial Appeal. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

i didn't have to register...

[StoopTroup]

I was on my IPhone.

[Condescending Sooner]

How did they know he bought the license after he caught the fish?

[dwarthog]

How did they know he bought the license after he caught the fish?

Probably showed up on their computer records when they checked to see if he was licensed.

Date/Time of catch he provided was earlier than the date/time the license was issued.