Devils Lake produces new state record white bass

North Dakota has a new state record white bass, and of course, it came from Devils Lake.

Charlie Vang of Brooklyn Park, Minn., broke the record Sunday, when he landed a 4-pound, 10-ounce white bass that measured 19 inches in length. Vang’s white bass bested the previous record of 4 pounds, 8 ounces, taken from Devils Lake in 2000.

Randy Hiltner, northeastern district fisheries supervisor for Game and Fish in Devils Lake, said the new state record also is 1 inch longer than the previous chart-topping fish.

Hiltner said he was told the new state record came from the north end of Six-Mile Bay near Channel A. Hiltner said he’s still trying to come to grips with the idea of a white bass that size.

“There’s a lot of white bass closer to 3 pounds than 4 pounds, 10 ounces,” Hiltner said Friday in a phone interview. “That’s really big. I’m sure it’s in the upper couple percentile of bass swimming around out there.”

Still, Hiltner said it’s not a complete surprise that Devils Lake produced a white bass that size.

“It’s not a real stretch,” he said. “There are some nice, big white bass swimming around Devils Lake.”

Ironically, the timing of Vang’s record catch suggests early June is prime time for big white bass. He caught the fish Sunday, which was June 10, while the previous state record was caught June 9, 2000.

The bass also tops Minnesota’s state record white bass, a 4-pound, 2.4-ounce fish caught in 2004 on Pool 5 of the Mississippi River near Wabasha, Minn.

Brad Dokken is a reporter

at the Grand Forks Herald, which is owned by Forum Communications Co.

Tags: north dakota, news, updates, bass, fishing