Seven-year old girl lands bass photo contest honors for May

Jan Mills

Mackenzie Mills and her lunker largemouth

Mackenzie Mills of Grimesland made her first-ever freshwater fishing trip a memorable one, first by catching a 10-1/2-pound largemouth bass, then by having a picture of her linker voted the most-remarkable bass photo in May on www.NorthCarolinaSportsman.com’s bass photo gallery contest.

Mills, 7, had been fishing once before, for bluefish at the coast, but one Saturday in early May, she was fishing with friend Mike Williams when the huge bass latched onto her worm at about 5 p.m. in a Pitt County farm pond.

Mills’ fish was 27-1/2 inches long and had a 19-inch girth.

“It blew my mind that my daughter caught that fish all by herself,” said Jan Mills, Mackenzie’s mother. “We’re the kind of fishin’ people who believe you reel in your own fish, so that’s what she did. When she saw it was so big she figured it was real old and indicated that she wanted to release it.”

Jan Mills ordered a Don’t worry though, Mom is ordering a replica mount from a taxidermist! The Monday after the catch, Mackenzie Mills was still excited about her catch.

“She took a stuffed animal bass with her to school so she could not only tell her friends but do some show and tell too,” Jan Mills said.

“I go to the NorthCarolinaSportsman.com website each week to look at the hunting forums, because I love to hunt, and I saw the bass photo contest and knew that my daughter should enter. She started screaming when she found out she had won!”

Mackenzie Mills won a year’s subscription to North Carolina Sportsman magazine and a $25 gift code to the Sportsman Outdoor Store, good for a t-shirt, hat or truck decals. Click here to view the entire bass photo gallery.