MBA student pulls off rare feat: two lunkers on same day

Max Turner is putting his grandfather’s old fishing tackle to good use.

Max, 18, a senior at Montgomery Bell Academy, said he caught the bass fishing bug in the summer of 2014.

This summer had the catch of a lifetime. He landed two largemouth bass, both which weighed about 10 pounds, on a recent trip to Kentucky Lake.

“It’s one thing to catch a bass that big ever in your life, but to catch two in one day is just overwhelming,” Max said. “It was incredible. I will be chasing that day for the rest of my life; I’ll never have a day like that again.”

The first fish weighed 10 pounds, 9 ounces. The second weighed 9 pounds, 9 ounces.

The biggest largemouth bass he had caught before that day weighed about five pounds, but that was before he started getting serious about catching bass last year.

Since his grandfather, Dave Turner, now mostly fly-fishes or fishes for crappie, he gave all of his old tackle to Max.

“Once my granddad found out I had gotten into bass fishing he called me over to his house,” Max said. “He’s bass-fished all of his life and he just started pulling out tackle box after tackle box and giving it to me. It just made me want to learn more about the sport and how to catch fish. I wanted to learn what there is to use, how to use it and when to use it.”

Max’s father, Gregg, set up a trip this summer with pro angler Troy Hollowell on Kentucky Lake.

“We got kind of a late start and it was kind of overcast and kind of spitting rain,” Gregg said. “The wind was blowing and I was thinking, ‘We’re not going to catch anything.’ ”

Hollowell took the father and son to the middle of the lake and said they probably wouldn’t catch many fish, but any they might catch would be big ones because of the conditions.

True enough, they fished for more than an hour before Max got the first bite.

“I was fishing a red and white top-water spook, just walking the dog off the ledges,” Max said. “And watching a 10-pound bass hit that top-water lure is something special.”

The trio then tried some drop-shot fishing, which did not go well, “so we went back to our original method,” Max said.

About an hour later Max caught his second largemouth, prompting Hollowell to fall to his knees.

“He put his head in his hands and then looked at me,” Gregg said. “He asked me, ‘Do you realize what just happened?' “I said, ‘Yeah, but probably not as much as you do.’ We knew it was special and kind of a freaky thing.”

Max released both of his trophy catches.

Boggs wins on Old Hickory: Lebanon's Drew Boggs won the Walmart Bass Fishing League Music City Division Super Tournament on Old Hickory Lake.

Boggs weighed in a two-day total of 10 bass at 27 pounds, 2 ounces.

"I'm very familiar with the lake, so I immediately targeted the areas where I've been catching them," said Boggs, who posted his second career win and 23rd top 10 finish in the FLW. "There were a lot of boats around me and everyone was catching fish."

Boggs, who earned $4,257, did well throughout the tournament.

"I had good-sized fish both days; they were all 2 1/2- to 3-pounders," he said. "I didn't really have any kickers, but it ended up working out."

Mt. Juliet's John Graves finished second (22 pounds, 11 ounces, $2,128), Smithville's Josh Tramel was third (22 pounds, 10 ounces, $1,420), Byrdstown's Robert Reagan was fourth (22 pounds, 6 ounces, $993) and Gainesboro's Dwight Fox was fifth (21 pounds, 6 ounces, $851).

Unleash the dragons: More than 50 teams are set to compete in the ninth annual Cumberland River Dragon Boat Festival on Sept. 12.

The 250-meter races run between the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge and the Woodland Street bridge.

The opening ceremony on River Lawn and Landing on the East Bank is at 8 a.m. The first-round races begin at 9 a.m. and the final (third) round at 2:05 p.m.

For more information visit nashvilledragonboat.org.

Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 and on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.