He catches largemouth bass like it's going out-of-style... And quite frankly, Dave Romeo proves that he's the man in this CBS 21 News interview...
Dave Romeo of Mount Joy Township, Lancaster County holds the Guiness World Record for the most bass ever caught and recorded in a single season. Check it out... According to the 1987 Guiness Book, Dave caught 3,001 bass in just 77 days. The record is still in tact.
On Tuesday, photojournalist Garth Millen and I along for a morning of fishing at a pond in Mount Joy Township.
It didn't take long to see what this guy is made of. Check out the monster 19-inch bass Dave caught using a bright yellow spinner bait!
After Dave catches each bass, he measures it for length, and releases it back into the pond.
Sure, that four-pounder would look great in a frying pan, but Dave likes to think his catch-and-release approach will accomplish two things: He has the chance to catch the bass again, and the larger fish will continue to breed more big fish for the future.
To keep accurate records, Dave carries a counter. In 25 years of fishing, he's caught bass in the triple digits 8 different times!... Today, he was only on number 16... Rough day!
Before leaving each pond, Dave fills out a journal of his latest catches. Location, species, length, etc... He's been doing this since 1981.
Last Saturday, Dave reached the milestone of catching his 25,000th bass since he began recording. But now, he's setting his sights on new record.
In 25 years, Dave's average for catching bass in a season has gone up and down. His first few years as an inexperienced angler on the pond have held him back considerably. (He only caught 39 bass his entire first season!)
Now, he's working extra hard to catch another 200 or bass this year, so his average over a true quarter century of time will be slightly above 1,000 bass caught per season.
He's almost there.
I wonder if he'll get a new license plate?...
It might not surprise you that Dave is a motivational speaker by trade, and uses his bass fishing experience as a motivator for others.
Best of luck, Dave!
Until next time,
-- Mike
