Bob Borg didn’t plan on staying in Texas long.

Wednesday, March 31, 1999

Bob Borg didn’t plan on staying in Texas long. The original plan for the Austin resident was to help his sister put in a new bathroom, do a little fishing and come back to Austin two weeks later.

The retired carpenter did come back, only it was three months and a Texas lake fishing record later.

Borg, 51, had heard from his sister that there was good fishing in the area. After a few days of fishing at Possum Kingdom Lake, which is about 100 miles west of Dallas, Borg came across a fellow fisherman that was interested in selling his small but adequate trailer that sat on the shore of the largest man made lake in Texas.

Borg was taken hook, line and sinker by his new found hotbed of fishing and "beautiful weather" that he jumped at the offer and bought himself more time.

On Jan. 28, after about an hour of fishing, Borg caught his only fish of the day that morning, but it was a whopper.

Without much of a struggle and the help of a "sassy shad" lure, the Park Rapids native landed a Possum King Lake record six-and-a-half pound smallmouth bass.

Before releasing the prized fish back into the water, Borg had the 24-inch fish weighed and officially registered with the state.

When he reeled his prize in, Borg knew the fish might be a record setter.

"I had talked to a guy earlier and he said six pounds would probably be big enough for the record and I knew the one I caught was more than six pounds.

Borg, a former river guide in the Park Rapids area, beat the previous mark by four ounces.

Borg said this was by far the biggest small mouth bass he has ever caught.

"I caught a 30-pound muskee, but that was years ago," he said of the largest fish he’s every hauled in.

After his record-setting day, Borg continued to fall in love with the weather and local fishing spots in the area. And although he plans to make a habit of returning to Texas to avoid the harsh Minnesota winters, the life-long fisherman still prefers the lakes and rivers of his home state.

"Minnesota," Borg said of his preference, "because we have such a variety of fish. But Texas was fun."