A Fool's Deal

Linkin Hill holds an 8-pound, 15-ounce largemouth bass he caught in the Missouri River.

To say an 8-pound largemouth bass in North Dakota is rare is a bit of an understatement. The current state record sits at 8 pounds, 8 ounces out of Nelson Lake, and that was all the way back in 1983. The only published 8-pluspound bass I could find since then was Jess Bitterman’s 8-pound, 4-ounce largemouth, written up in the Oct. 28, 1995, Bismarck Tribune when the Bismarck angler qualified for a national bigbass tournament.

That’s why, when Linkin Hill made the deal with his father, Derek, that if he caught an 8-pounder his dad would mount it for him, it seemed like a no-brainer.

“I made kind of a fool’s deal with him leading into the fishing season,” Derek said. “He threw out there, ‘Hey, if I ever catch an 8-pounder, can we get it mounted?’ And I was like, ‘That’s a pretty big largemouth for the area. Sure, I’ll take that bet.’”

Derek should have known better.

See, Linkin isn’t your average teen. At 13, he already has a drive for the next cast that is unmatched by most. He can be found on his bike in the morning before the sun comes up, riding by the light of his headlamp to one of his many favorite spots on the Missouri River. “I like walleye, but I like bass fishing a lot more. It’s just more fun to me,” Linkin said. “More casting, they fight well, and they’re fun because you can catch them on a bunch of different things.”

If you want to seriously pursue this species along the Missouri, harbors and docks are the place to do it. These fish prefer warmer water and breaks from the Missouri’s current as opposed to pike or walleye.

Knowing this, Linkin has developed a network of people who will let him fish their property, establishing trust by being trustworthy. “I talked to a lot of people, neighbors, a lot of people that fish, and they love it because they see him taking off on his bike with the backpack and however many fishing rods he can carry,” Derek said. “Maybe we see him at lunch … maybe we even see him at dinner, and he comes home at 8 or 9 at night smelling like a fish.” It was on one of those docks on Aug. 14, 2026, that Linkin landed the largemouth bass of a lifetime.

“Me and my buddy, we woke up early and we came out here around 6, and we were fishing the docks of some people we know over here,” Linkin explained. “We walked up, and I saw him just sitting in between these docks over here. I cast at him and spooked him. Then we went over to that dock, and I caught him under it.” Linkin and his friend weighed the fish, but believing the scale was saying 8.15 pounds, they snapped some pics, called his dad to tell him about the mount he was going to get, and released it back into the water, thinking the fish was just shy of the state record. It was only later that they realized the scale was reading pounds and ounces.

8 pounds, 15 ounces. 22 inches long. With the fish back in the water and no way to verify, this catch will live in the realm of legend. A story people can doubt and argue about like fishermen love to do. An unofficial state record, likely beating the long-held standard by almost half a pound.

That fish is still down there. A state record that could be hanging out just by your dock, but you’re going to have to get up pretty early if you want to beat Linkin to it.