Paul Elias shattered the BASS records books with his win at the Bassmaster Elite Series Falcon Lake, Texas tournament. When the scales stopped Paul’s 4-day total weight was an astonishing 132 pounds 8 ounces for 20 bass—just over a 6-½ pound average per fish. The weight eclipsed Steve Kennedy’s prior record of 122 pounds 14 ounces from California’s Clear Lake in 2007, a record that many thought would never be broken. With the win Elias pocketed a cool $100,000 and his first Bassmaster Elite Series victory.
Elias, 1982 Bassmaster Classic champion and Mann’s Bait pro staff member since 1986, is best known as a deep-structure crankbaiting specialist. True to form, he caught the majority of his key fish on a Mann’s 20+ crankbait and back-up Carolina-rigged 12-inch watermelon-red Jelly Worm.
“I had the best day on the water that I’ve had in 32 years of tournament fishing,” said the 56-year-old, Laurel, Miss., resident. “‘Ol Homer’, my nickname for the 20+ that I used is actually a color (chartreuse with green tiger stripes) that Mann’s custom painted for me in the late 80’s. This particular color has never been a regular item or appeared in Mann’s catalogs, but it has always been one of my go-to baits for big fish.”
Mann’s Bait Company, a world leader in the manufacture of artificial lures, produces a broad range of fish catching products for both fresh and saltwater markets, consisting of spinnerbaits, crankbaits, soft plastics, lead lures and hollow body baits.
