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Pennsylvania’s smallmouth record, caught from an unlikely water, nears 30 years old; will it be broken?

To grow to 9 pounds, a smallmouth bass in Pennsylvania would need to live a long time, have ample forage and most likely would live in a lake or pond. (Photo by P.J. Reilly)

It was just shy of 30 years ago that Robert Steelman, of Havertown, made Pennsylvania history.
In 1997, Steelman was fishing tiny Scotts Run Lake in French Creek State Park in Berks County when he caught a monster smallmouth bass weighing 8 pounds, 8 ounces.
It was – and still is – the biggest smallmouth bass ever caught in Pennsylvania. For 28 years, Steelman’s state record has stood unmatched. Will it ever be broken? How did a bass like that come from Scotts Run Lake, of all places?

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