SOCIAL CIRCLE — A 13-pound, 4-ounce largemouth bass recently was caught and released back into Ocmulgee Public Fishing Area during survey work conducted by fisheries biologists with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division.  
In addition, anglers currently are reporting big bass catches on a regular basis at this PFA located in Bleckley and Pulaski counties.
“Angler surveys from February and March alone reveal that 46 bass above the 8-pound mark were caught and released, with 10 bass exceeding 10 pounds, including a 12-pound, 4-ounce  bass caught by Jason Byram of Milledgeville on Feb. 22,” says fisheries biologist Tim Bonvechio.  “The strategy of stocking a lower density female-only bass in combination with a strict catch-and-release regulation has worked really well to meet the intended angler objective of having many catchable trophy bass. Of the bass surveyed this spring, 10 percent have exceeded 10 pounds in weight.”  
Is this catch a potential new state record?  No.  The current state record largemouth bass — 22 pounds, 4 ounces — was set in 1932 by George Perry. However, that record fish, which also held world record status for more than 75 years and only recently was tied, was caught not too far from this location in an oxbow lake, Montgomery Lake, off the Ocmulgee River.