Howell catches a ‘unicorn’ to lead Bassmaster Elites on Hartwell with 21-plus pounds

Howell’s monster bed fish puts him on top of a tight leaderboard after Day 1 in Anderson, SC.

Having caught a five-fish limit of bass weighing a combined 21 pounds, 11 ounces, Randy Howell leads the Bassmaster Elite Series tournament on Lake Hartwell after the first of four competition days. Anchoring his leading weight was a 7-pound, 15-ounce kicker, the biggest bass caught by any competitor on the day. | Andy Crawford/Bassmaster.com

April 24, Anderson, SC – Having caught a five-fish limit of bass weighing a combined 21 pounds, 11 ounces, Randy Howell leads the Bassmaster Elite Series tournament on Lake Hartwell after the first of four competition days. Anchoring his leading weight was a 7-pound, 15-ounce kicker, the biggest bass caught by any competitor on the day.

“Fish like that are unicorns, and I know they're from above, God above,” Howell told Bassmaster Elite Series Dave Mercer after weighing the giant bass. “And hopefully tomorrow we’ll get some more good ones like that.” 

Howell’s big bass, Mercer observed, had eyeballs as big as golf balls.“Its eyes weigh at least a half a pound!”

This shot of Randy Howell catching a big bass comes courtesy of the lucky but unnamed AmBASSador who rode with Howell today. | B.A.S.S.

Two days ago, in practice, Howell had found, caught and shook off the big bass. Thinking about it this morning, he was a bundle of nerves before he launched his boat. He had a late launch number and was concerned that someone else would find and catch the fish before he could get to it.

“This morning when you interviewed me out there, and you know, I told you I was shaking bad,” Howell told Mercer. “I shake every morning, but I was shaking bad because I knew that fish was sitting there, and I was boat 54, and a bunch of my buddies in line behind me were all trying to go to it too. But thankfully nobody in front of boat 54 went there.”

Howell caught the big bass today the same way he did after finding it in practice.

“It was on the bed, and I pulled in there and lined up with my Lowrance and made a long cast,” he told Mercer. “I almost didn't throw the Senko on the spinning rod, but I did it anyway.

“First cast, bouncing that Senko, she walked off with it, and I set the hook,” he continued. “When she come out of the water, I'm like, ‘Oh Lord, please Jesus, don't let it get off!’ And it was bigger than I thought. 

“I shook it off the other day, and I thought it was a six pounder,” he said further. “I didn't want to overestimate it, so I just called it a six and a half. Then this afternoon, I weighed it, and it weighed eight pounds on my scale, so I'm like, ‘Oh my gosh, that's even bigger than I thought!’ So anyway, it was a great day. The Lord really blessed me a lot.” 

As he did today, he said, he’ll throw a Livingston Walking Boss topwater bait early in the day before switching to a Yamamoto Senko in the afternoon.