It’s time for the annual flag sponsorship. The Lions club is looking for sponsors for the American flags that are flown on the 167 bridge in Winnfield on holidays.
The flags are flown eight times a year and the cost per flag is only $35 per flag per year.
Sponsoring a flag is a great way to honor the service of the veterans in your life while also helping make our city look patriotic.
Date: 2-28-23
Name: Marvin Lewis
Address: Winnfield, LA
Race: Black
Sex: Male
Age: 36
Charge:Violation of protective order (x2)
This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named or shown in photographs or video as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
The Winn Parish Police Jury is accepting applications for a Truck driver. The position will be full-time with benefits. Duties will include operating such equipment as a dump truck, small farm-type tractors with a blade or bush hog, or other equipment as needed. Provide routine maintenance on equipment, perform physical labor as required and maintain simple records of equipment operations.
MUST POSSESS CLASS A OR B CDL LICENSE.
Minimum qualifications: 3 months of experience operating one or more kinds of equipment specified for the class or 6 months to 1 year of experience in general labor or maintenance work.
Applications for employment may be picked up at the Secretary/Treasurer’s office located in the Parish Courthouse, 119 W. Main Street, Room 102 between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Applications will be accepted until 2:00 p.m. on Friday, March 17, 2023.
JOSHUA MCALLISTER, PRESIDENT
KAREN TYLER, SECRETARY/TREASURER
The Winn Parish Police Jury is an equal-opportunity employer.
Position: Administrative Assistant 5
Salary: $2,883.00 – $5,675.00 Monthly
Location: Natchitoches, LA
Job Type: Classified
Department: Northwestern State University
Job Number: 171972
Closing: 3/9/2023 11:59 PM Central
Supplemental Information
Northwestern State University is currently accepting applications for an Administrative Assistant 5 in Business Affairs.
Applicants must have Civil Service test scores for 8500-Office Support Exam in order to be considered for this vacancy unless exempted by Civil Service rule or policy. If you do not have a score prior to applying to this posting, it may result in your application not being considered.
Applicants without current test scores can apply to take the test here.
To apply for this vacancy, click on the “Apply” link above and complete an electronic application, which can be used for this vacancy as well as future job opportunities. Applicants are responsible for checking the status of their application to determine where they are in the recruitment process. Further status message information is located under the Information section of the Current Job Opportunities page.
*Resumes WILL NOT be accepted in lieu of completed education and experience sections on your application. Applications may be rejected if incomplete.*
For further information about this vacancy contact:
Benetrus Brooks, H.R. Specialist
Northwestern State University – Human Resources
200 Sam Sibley Dr. – St. Denis Hall
brooksb@nsula.edu
NOTICE OF NON-DISCRIMINATION (FULL DISCLOSURE)
It has been, and will continue to be, the policy of Northwestern State University to be an equal opportunity employer. All employment decisions are based on job related standards and must comply with the principles of equal employment opportunity.
In keeping with this policy, the University will continue to recruit, hire, train, and promote into all job levels the most qualified persons without regard to race, color, gender, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, age, veteran status, or retirement status. All personnel actions, such as compensation, benefits, transfers, layoffs, training, and education are administered without regard to race, color, gender, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, age, veteran status, or retirement status.
The University is committed to equal opportunity for student success by providing access to educational programs, tuition assistance, and social and recreational activities for all students without regard to race, color, gender, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, age, veteran status, or retirement status. Additionally, the University provides equal access to the Boy Scouts of America and other designated youth groups.
Student complaints or inquiries related to Title IX should be directed to the Director of Student Advocacy and Title IX Coordinator, Julie Powell (318-357-5570), Room 308 of the Friedman Student Union or email obannonj@nsula.edu. Employee Title IX issues should be directed to the Executive Director of Institutional Effectiveness and Human Resources, Veronica M. Biscoe (318-357-6359), Room 111 Caspari Hall or email ramirezv@nsula.edu.
In accordance with Section 35.106 of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), all participants, applicants, organizations, and interested individuals are advised and notified that the ADA Coordinator for Northwestern State University for facilities is the Director of University Affairs, Jennifer Kelly (318-357-4300), located in New Fine Arts, 104 Central Avenue, Ste. 102 or email andersonje@nsula.edu. For studentacademic services, contact the Director of Access and Disability Support, Taylor Camidge (318-357-5460) located in Room 108-C Watson Memorial Library or email camidget@nsula.edu. For faculty/staff accommodations and services, contact Executive Director of Institutional Effectiveness and Human Resources, Veronica M. Biscoe (318-357-6359), Room 111 Caspari Hall or email ramirezv@nsula.edu.
Qualifications
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
Four years of experience in which clerical work was a major duty.
SUBSTITUTIONS:
Training in a business or clerical-related curriculum in a business school or technical institute will substitute for the required experience on the basis of six months of training for six months of experience for a maximum of one year of the required experience.
Completion of a business or clerical-related curriculum in a business school or technical institute will substitute for a maximum of one year of the required experience.
College training will substitute for the required experience on the basis of 15 semester hours for six months of experience.
NOTE:
Business or technical school training with less than completion will only be credited in six month increments. Similarly, college training will only be credited in 15 semester hour increments.
NOTE: Any college hours or degree must be from an accredited college or university.
Job Concepts
Function of Work:
To serve as the special assistant to a classified/unclassified executive or high-ranking classified administrator.
Employees perform duties independently and exercise a high degree of independent judgment and initiative in determining the approach/action to take in non-routine situations.
Level of Work: Advanced.
Supervision Received:
General from a classified/unclassified executive or high-ranking classified administrator.
Supervision Exercised:
May supervise 1-2 lower-level personnel.
Location of Work:
May be used by all state agencies.
Job Distinctions:
Differs from Administrative Assistant 4 by the presence of responsibility for serving as special assistant to a classified/unclassified executive or a high-ranking classified administrator.
Differs from Administrative Assistant 6 by the absence of responsibility for serving as the confidential executive assistant to the unclassified Secretary, Deputy Secretary, Undersecretary, Assistant Secretary, or equivalent high-level classified/unclassified executive of a major state department.
Examples of Work
Relieves the executive of a variety of administrative matters by assuming delegated authority in assigned areas.
Performs and supervises administrative support activities such as maintaining files and central records, printing and duplicating services, security, purchasing of supplies and equipment, warehousing, and preparation of payroll and personnel records.
Serves as executive support to department advisors and decision-makers, including administrators and boards/committees.
Reviews correspondence and receives telephone calls related to the most sensitive and confidential matters and determines appropriate action to be taken.
Interprets departmental policies and procedures for staff members and the general public.
Conducts and/or supervises special projects, such as organizing charity drives or coordinating facility maintenance.
Collects and compiles budgetary data for monitoring funds and staffing levels.
Prepares materials needed for meetings, such as agendas, handouts, binders, etc.
May attend meetings and transcribe minutes.
May serve as backup for experienced-level professional duties, such as procurement, accounting, etc.
Administrative Assistant 5 – View Online
EOE
By Brad Dison
Since the earliest humans roamed the Earth, theft has been a problem. I imagine one caveman being envious of another caveman’s club and taking it when the opportunity presented itself. Over the millennia, humans developed rules which eventually became enforceable laws to stave off thievery. In some cases, the penalty for theft was excessive in comparison to the value of what was stolen. In 2019, a man convicted of theft in Iran had four of the fingers on his right hand cut off.
In early November 1906, a boy whose name has been lost to history spied some “penny toys” dangling from the doorway of a shop in Weinfelden, Switzerland. Without much thought of the possible consequences, the boy seized two of the penny toys and simply walked away. The boy made no attempt to hide the stolen toys, nor did he rush away from the scene of the crime. He calmly strode away from the shop.
The shop’s clerk contacted a policeman and reported the crime. The clerk pointed in the direction the boy had walked. With the help of the public who, like the clerk, pointed in the direction the boy had walked, the policeman quickly made his way to the boy’s home. The boy’s parents were unaware of the boy’s new toys until the policeman arrived. The policeman questioned the boy who laughingly admitted to taking the penny toys. With a solid confession, the policeman arrested the boy.
When the theft case came before the Weinfelden magistrate, the policeman held the boy up so the magistrate could take a good look at him and so the boy could see the official, as well. When the magistrate asked the boy if he had taken the penny toys, the boy laughingly admitted to the crime just as he had done with the policeman. The boy tried as well as he could to defend his actions. He tried to explain to the magistrate that he did not have any toys like the other boys in his neighborhood. The magistrate was unaffected by the boys attempt to explain away his crime, and as sternly as if he were facing the most cold-blooded of murderers loudly proclaimed “three and a half months’ imprisonment.”
The boy’s parents, shocked by the prison sentence for a couple of penny toys, fell on their knees and pleaded with the magistrate to reconsider. As the boy had openly confessed to thievery, the boy’s parents had just one argument, that the boy did not know the difference between right and wrong. With hardly a glance in their direction, the magistrate sternly told the policeman, “Remove the prisoner.” The policeman seemed almost as shocked as the parents, but he had to abide by the magistrate’s order. The policeman led the boy to an equally astonished warden to begin his sentence.
Whether the boy’s imprisonment deterred him from a life of crime is unknown. It is possible that the boy did not remember the incident. You see, the boy who was sentenced to three and a half months imprisonment for the theft of two penny toys, had recently had a birthday. He had just turned three years old.
Source:
Dear Ask the Paperboy:
Last year during early March, the U.S. Senate passed legislation that would have made daylight saving time permanent starting this Sunday, March 12. But now I understand that although we will spring forward Sunday, we will fall back come November 5, same as always, Lord willing we are still here. Right? Wrong? Let me know before Sunday. You’re on the clock starting … now!
Sleepily in Shreveport
Dear Sleepy,
Yes, to the first part; Congress considered making daylight saving time permanent, but it didn’t hap’n, Cap’n. Last year at this time, the proposed legislation went from the Senate to the House and the House was locked. By the time someone found a key, everyone in the House was in a foul mood and said NEG, that they “needed more time” to study its effects one way or the other because, apparently, the 100 years that daylight saving time has been around has not been enough time to really and truly think this thing through. Paperboy wishes daylight saving time were permanent because then it would be Headache Saving Time, since Paperboy’s head is all “confrused” twice a year. Finally, the bill was reintroduced by a senator just last week, has bipartisan support, and has been referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, Transportation, Headaches, and Clocks. My sources tell me the biggest thing we in the Don’t Touch That Timepiece! lobby have going for us is support in the extremely partisan cow bloc, made up of bovines who don’t want to be milked at one time during March and another time during November. Who would? Cows don’t know a clock from an udder; they just know when the sun comes up. Cows keep life simple.
Dear Ask the Paperboy,
I see the Tarbutton Road Exit has opened in Lincoln Parish and a Buc-ee’s is a-comin’. This is the biggest news in these parts since Whataburger opened. But my query is, why is it called Tarbutton Road?
Life in Lincoln
Dear Life,
Paperboy feels it had to have been the name of someone who lived on that road before it had a name. As is often the custom in rural America, the name of the road, and sometimes a parish or town, is named for the early bird. You snooze, you lose. There are no Tarbuttons around now that I know of, but there are plenty in Texas and Mississippi and, with a name like that, they are all cool. My friend Teddy Allen feels if he’d have been named Teddy Simonetti or Teddy Takata or Teddy Tarbutton, he would have gotten some respect. Great names. They bring something to the party. Plus, it’s a fine road and a top-shelf exit. Hat tippage.
Dear ATP,
Recently my favorite baseball player was in a slump and then he hit like two taters and knocked in more runs than you have fingers on your hand in one game. The announcer said he was “off the schneid.” Is this a sports term? A foreign language? Did I misunderstand?
Possibly taking this too personally,
J.T. Schneider, Schneider Road, Schneiderville
Dear J.T.,
Words have always amused Paperboy, even ever since he was just Paperbaby. A “schneid,” as it turns out, is a word that originated with gin rummy and means you lost that hand and didn’t score any points. So, a schneid is a bad thing and came to mean, in any sport, that it is not happening for you. To get “off the schneid” means you are winning again. So, if you see a schneid, stay away from it. If you’re on a schneid, say excuse me and get off it. Now that that’s settled, let’s score some runs!
Contact Teddy at teddy@latech.edu or Twitter @MamaLuvsManning
Reginald Baham
December 25, 1958 – March 3, 2023
Arrangements TBA
HAMMOND – The Winnfield Senior High School girls basketball team was among the best in the state in its classification this season under first-year coach Bobby Armstrong.
But the Amite Lady Warriors were a cut above. Wednesday night in the state semifinals of the 2023 Ochsner’s LHSAA Marsh Madness Division III Non-Select Tournament, Amite solved Winnfield’s tough defense and gradually overwhelmed the Tigerettes, 59-37, at the University Center in Hammond.
The outcome halted Winnfield’s season with a final 18-10 record. Amite moved to Saturday’s state championship game with a 24-4 record.
But the Tigerettes will take their place among the very best girls’ teams in school history with the way they fought through to reach the biggest stage in Louisiana in girls’ basketball.
It just didn’t look that way often enough Wednesday night. First, the game started nearly an hour behind schedule when the previous game went to overtime. Amite came out of the gate blasting away, running to an 18-8 first-quarter lead.
The margin was 27-15 before the Tigerettes closed the second quarter well and trailed 29-21 at halftime. Winnfield made just 8 of 30 shots in the first half.
Amite pulled away afterwards, posting a 16-7 third-quarter advantage to make the lead 45-28, and then cruised through the final quarter. The Lady Warriors shot 44 percent from the field for the night, while Winnfield finished at 21 percent — just 5 of 33 after halftime.
Amite’s advantage was most acute inside. The winners posted a huge 63-41 rebounding advantage, with 30 offensive rebounds after their own missed shots.
Winnfield did have a strong showing on 3-point shooting, making 7 of 16 with five Tigerettes contributing from distance.
Helen Sapp was the WSHS leader with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Kamarie Brown scored 10. Alezea McMiller (6), Denasia Brown and Alvia Monnin (3 each), Emari Evans (2) and Ashantia Cherry (1) rounded out the scoring for the Tigerettes.
Amite had a sensational game from Hai’ley Brumfield, who scored 23, dished out 9 assists and grabbed 8 rebounds while making 4 steals and blocking 2 shots. Alasia Williams scored 12 points and collected 16 rebounds – one of three Lady Warriors who had 11 or more rebounds.
The Winn Parish Police Jury is accepting applications for a Truck driver. The position will be full-time with benefits. Duties will include operating such equipment as a dump truck, small farm-type tractors with a blade or bush hog, or other equipment as needed. Provide routine maintenance on equipment, perform physical labor as required and maintain simple records of equipment operations.
MUST POSSESS CLASS A OR B CDL LICENSE.
Minimum qualifications: 3 months of experience operating one or more kinds of equipment specified for the class or 6 months to 1 year of experience in general labor or maintenance work.
Applications for employment may be picked up at the Secretary/Treasurer’s office located in the Parish Courthouse, 119 W. Main Street, Room 102 between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Applications will be accepted until 2:00 p.m. on Friday, March 17, 2023.
JOSHUA MCALLISTER, PRESIDENT
KAREN TYLER, SECRETARY/TREASURER
The Winn Parish Police Jury is an equal-opportunity employer.
Mayor Hamms is one of 5 children and the brother to the late Reverend Tommy Hamms. He served 2 terms on the City Council and was led by the Lord to run for mayor. He knows that all will turn out okay if he follows the Lord’s guidance. Mayor Hamms focus is growing our city together. An ongoing project is electric service as we now have more customers than previously. The water department received a 4.2 million dollar grant for repair projects and for the annexation of some areas. There is new equipment for beautification projects to make things more efficient. The recreation department is very important to the mayor and we need to do our part to give recreational opportunities. We are supposed to train our children properly and have a good influence on them. We received a CAP grant to improve transportation in the downtown and the appearance of downtown. A letter of intent has been signed with the Main Street Project so we are now on the Main Street team. This will help us to improve the buildings downtown. The DOTD will help by repairing sidewalks at no cost to the city.
When he came into office the city was two audits behind. Both have now been completed. The only audit left is the one for 2022 which could not be done until the others were completed. They are now able to finish 2022 in a timely manner since the others have been completed. They are also looking for new businesses to come to Winnfield and Winn Parish. The city loses an estimated 40 million dollars per year in taxes because people go out of town to eat and shop. The city wants an area for food trucks and want to promote more activities on Main St. to get more people downtown. The look of the city can be improved by enforcing the order to keep property looking good. Swift Connect, a broadband company is renting the Vassarette building and Larry Bates building. The annexation up to Hwy 156 is complete and this will increase tax revenue. These businesses will also be included in city utilities.
Mayor Hamms is looking for a grant writer for the city. He has also been talking to Representative Julia Letlow about available grants. In regards to the Recreation Center cameras have been installed. They are looking at new turf for the fields, improving the bathrooms, and looking into better lighting for the fields.
We appreciate Mayor Hamms taking the time to speak to the Kiwanis club.
One of the most iconic movie lines that was birthed from the classic and beloved movie, Steel Magnolias, was uttered by the ultra talented, Olympia Dukakis. Her forged and over saturated southern drawl made every one of her lines more dramatic and memorable.
While this could be debated for many hours, I stand by my convictions with this one. This was my favorite. Pure southern bell entertainment. These Steel Magnolia ladies could talk smack with the best of them.
Every time I watch Claire Belcher smile and look directly into Truvy Jones eyes and said, “As somebody always said…if can’t say anything nice about anybody come sit by me” it makes me smile. Of course it isn’t very nice, but funny, yes it is.
While most of the time you will find me as annoyingly positive as I can be, sometimes I do have bad days and succumb to negativity when it is presented to me. More times that not, I recognize it pretty quickly and start repenting under my breath while repeating some of my favorite scriptures that remind me I am a child of God and not a child of the streets.
This past week though, it has been a tough one. Stress from every angle you can imagine. Long hours of work, volunteer time, single parenting, volleyball travel, getting acquainted with our rescue kitty, writing, trying to keep a clean house and halfway decent yard. It just all came crashing down. I was open and available for all negativity and talking smack that came my way.
I felt like Claire Belcher patting the couch while saying, “Come sit by me…..”
I gladly participated in gossip and all things that weigh heavy on a soul. And that is just what it did. By the end of the week I felt very heavy and really down on myself. Words really cannot describe how negativity affects you. You just feel it to your core, or at least I did.
After repenting and asking God to forgive me I truly had to forgive myself. I know God uses me in mighty ways for his Kingdom and has blessed me so much. What can I gain from being negative and talking smack about people? Nothing. It really doesn’t hurt the other person as much as it damages your soul. I am grateful that God takes into account my lack of perfection when he mapped out my life. If it weren’t for the grace of God and forgiveness, I would be in a deep, sorrowful pit of despair.
God is kind, compassionate and good to forgive us when we ask. He is good at ignoring our smack talk and using us for his glory.
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those that listen. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Ephesians 4:29-32
Date: 2-23-23
Name: Michael Calvin Elliot
Address: Sikes, LA
Race: White
Sex: Male
Age: 34
Charge: Domestic battery
Date: 2-25-23
Name: Jeremy Wise
Address: Winnfield, LA
Race: White
Sex: Male
Age: 23
Charge: Prohibition of firearm with portective order, Illegal tail lamps
Date: 2-27-23
Name: Brandy Connell
Address: Cloutienneville, LA
Race: White
Sex: Female
Age: 23
Charge: Failure to appear
Date: 2-28-23
Name: Daniel Ramond McHenry
Address: Winnfield, LA
Race: Black
Sex: Male
Age: 25
Charge: Burglary of an inhabited dwelling, Criminal damage to property
Date: 3-1-23
Name: Shawn Pikes
Address: Winnfield, LA
Race: Black
Sex: Male
Age: 47
Charge: Failure to appear
\
This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named or shown in photographs or video as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
I met a kind woman when I was about 22 years old or so. That’s funny. All my stories seem to begin when I was in my early 20s. I guess that’s how people are as they enter middle age and then their senior years. It takes time to reflect on those events, those people, that helped shape you into the person you become.
Chris Broussard is one such person. She was that lady I met over 20 years ago. She came to Gleason Street because there was an issue with the higher-ups in the ink and paper business. I was caught in the middle a lot of times in those early days. I didn’t know what was going on, but everybody thought I did, and I became a target for misdirected ire. Heck, I was still just a kid who was more concerned about the quality of the next Lord of the Rings movie than I was about chambers of commerce and tax millages and arrest reports and squabbling between police juries and the sheriff and all those stuffy adult things that guys in neckties worry about.
I’m still that guy in many ways, but I digress. Neckties are voluntary nooses. Moving on.
So, Mrs. Broussard comes in and we talk. I don’t remember what the issue was. Way too many winters have passed since then, but I quickly came away with the impression this woman was a lot like me. In fact, I said, that’s me in a few years.
I was wrong. I have a lot of the same beliefs, but I have never come close to making the lasting impact on young people and their communities as Chris Broussard has.
I’m writing about her today because she’s got an art show going on right now at City Art Works in Downtown Minden. Dubbed “Art and Soul,” the event features a lifetime of art from Chris and her late husband Rick.
Anyone who knows Chris knows how much she and Rick loved one another. Their social media pages have given a glimpse into the lives of a couple who never moved out of the honeymoon stage. They never stopped dating. And I like to think Rick still referred to Chris as his “bride” rather than just his wife. Point of fact, fellas – if you always think of the lady in your life as your “bride” rather than your wife, it’s much easier to keep the love and romance alive.
They traveled. She painted. He took pictures. They captured the world through their art. They told stories in frozen moments on strips of film and strokes from a brush.
They lived. They laughed. They loved. They lived the marriage story we all want to live.
In the years during all of this, Rick worked as an engineer and Chris worked as a savior of souls. I don’t mean she was in the pulpit on Sunday mornings. Rather she helped spread her passion for art via the founding of Cultural Crossroads, the opening of The Farm, the overseeing of the annual Spring Arts Festival, and the hundreds – nay, thousands – of hours she invested in introducing art to the young and rekindling the love of the arts in the hearts of adults of all ages. That’s what I mean by saving souls. God is art. God is creativity. God is the original and greatest artist. To create is to give life.
I fell out of touch with her for quite a while only for us to reconnect at a low point in my life. You see, I just couldn’t create. For a long, long time I just couldn’t do what an artist is born to do.
And then Chris spoke to me one random day. Not in person. Digitally. Just as good in today’s world. Maybe even better sometimes. I’m not going to share what she said to me, but it was exactly what I needed to hear exactly when I needed to hear it.
And then I could create once more. And I haven’t stopped since.
That’s what Chris Broussard does. She touches the hearts of the young and the old. She makes a difference even when she has no idea she’s doing so.
And the world is a much better place for having her in it.
There’s a reception for her art show on Wednesday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The show hours are from noon to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and from 10 to 4 on Saturdays.
If you get a chance, go up to City Art Works in Downtown Minden at some point before the show closes on March 31. See what a lifetime of art looks like. I like to think that’s what Heaven is. Not streets of gold or rivers of milk and honey. No clouds or cherubs playing the harp. Just art. Creation. Love. Kindness.
To me, that is God. To me, that is Heaven.
Josh Beavers is a teacher and a writer. He has been recognized five times for excellence in opinion writing by the Louisiana Press Association.
Whether it’s football, baseball, basketball, or corn hole, records are made to be broken. It’s not every day that a person gets the opportunity to set or break a record of any kind. It usually means the person setting the new record has played a particular sport for a long time. He or she has put in many hours of practice and dedicated themself to being the best. No matter how big the record is, the day will come when it will be broken.
In 1932 the world record largemouth bass of 22.4 lbs. was caught in Georgia’s Lake Montgomery by George Perry which still stands today! This record has stood for over 90 years! But, in 2009 a Japanese angler by the name of Manabu Kurita caught a 22.5 lb. bass in Lake Biwa in Japan. Based on simple math, you would think this would be a new world record by 1 ounce. Hold on, there’s a rule with IGFA (International Game Fish Association) which certifies all fishing world records, states that to be a new world record of any kind, the fish must weigh at least two ounces more than the previous record. But IGFA did give him credit for tying the world record catch.
Now let’s look at what happened on Saturday, February 11th during the Bass Champs Team Trail event on Toledo Bend. Somewhere between 7:00 and 8:00 in the morning, Bill Cook of Houston, Texas set the hook on what he knew was a big bass. After hooking the bass on what’s called an A-Rig (A umbrella-style rig that imitates a small school of baitfish). Bill knew he had a big fish, but had no clue what was about to transpire.
The story goes, Bill had spotted the fish on his forward-facing sonar in about 18 feet of water on the edge of a drop-off. He made a cast in the direction of the bass and let the A-rig sink to the bottom. While watching his bait on his depth finder like a video game, he then engaged the reel and began to slowly retrieve the bait just off the bottom when the big fish came up and bit his lure. After a tough battle, his partner (Ken Burgess) netted the fish. At first glance, they thought the fish might be a 12-pounder which was bigger than any fish Bill had ever caught before. They had no idea that Bill had just caught a new Toledo Bend Lake record of 15.67 lbs. until they hit the scales during the weigh-in that afternoon.
The funny part of this story is that the weekend before in a MLF BFL tournament, his co-angler partner (Michael Fagan) caught an 11-pounder off this same spot on an A-rig along with a 6.14 lb. bass to finish 2nd on the co-angler side of this event. The co-angler asked Bill if he had an A-rig tied on? Bill, thinking, he had one rigged up in his rod locker, opened the locker only to discover he had left that rod with the A-rig in his garage! But he made sure he had it in the boat for the Bass Champs event the next week and as they say, the rest is history!
The previous record of 15.32 caught by Eric Weems had stood for 22 years. Bill Cook is no stranger to the waters of Toledo Bend and has fished this body of water for over 30 years. He’s had a lot of success in tournament circuits like the BFLs, Toyota Series, and team trails. Bill is one of those anglers, you hope to be paired up with if you’re fishing as a co-angler in any event. He’s not only an excellent angler but an even better person.
No one is more deserving of a record like this than Bill Cook, and I along with a lot of other anglers hope his record catch stands for a long time! Unless the fishing Gods shine down on me with such an opportunity! Till next time, good luck, good fishing, and don’t forget to set the hook! You never know, it just might be a new record!
Steve Graf
Angler’s Perspective