Man Catches Record-Breaking Bass Using Bare Hands

Have you ever wondered how our ancestors fished in ancient history, and moreover, how they managed to catch enough fish, feed their numerous offspring and all of that in an era before the advent of hooks, poles, nets and other hi-tech fishing equipment? Well, Robert Earl Woodard or the star of our video has been perfecting his technique for catching bass with bare hands for several decades. This video is part of his teaching and also evidence of him breaking his personal and official Alabama record for bass fishing by hand.Show more

"This broke the record for the largest bass caught by hand. This bass weighed 16 pounds 7 oz. This broke my previous record of 16.03 which was caught by hand in 2016. It takes a lot of time and effort to catch a bass of this size by hand. This was very exciting for me and it took every bit of my strength and energy to control and pull this in. She was released and was not hurt making this video,” says Robert.

Woodard’s technique is extremely simple. Dangle the bait on the surface of the water, right from the dock. When the bass swims up and nears the surface to snatch the bait up, Earl swiftly grabs the bass with nothing but his bare hands. A brief but intense scuffle follows before the fish is thrown onto the dock. As Earl is only a sports fisherman, after weighing it (and breaking state records with the size of his catch), the gently releases the fish into the water.

We know that our ancestors would strongly disagree with letting such a tasty catch go, but we applaud Earl and his amazing technique ever more strongly!