Even before Kyle Danhausen missed catching the Illinois-record smallmouth bass by an ounce Thursday, he was on a roll fishing near downtown Chicago.

‘‘I had caught somewhere between 20 and 30,’’ he said. ‘‘I was catching them every cast. It is so good. I caught them and caught them. One was just shy of 5 pounds. There was a whole bunch of 3-6, 3-8. In three or four years, they will all be 4-pounders. There’s a lot of fish in the water. It is very healthy.’’

He was using a tube or a small swimbait in 16 to 18 feet. The near-record fish was caught on a swimbait in 20 feet.

‘‘I was dragging that swimbait really slow on the bottom,’’ he said. ‘‘I am convinced there are thousands of them in here. That is the way it feels to me. There are little piles of rock out there. As many as there are, you can’t see them real well on electronics.’’

Danhausen, who works in sales for Shimano, was using a Shimano Vanford reel with a 10-pound PowerPro Super Slick line on a G. Loomis NRX 902.

‘‘As soon as I set the hook, I knew the way the jerk from the head shake was [that] it [was] more than a big one,’’ Danhausen said. ‘‘It jumped out of the water, clean out, and I got a really good look.’’

Danhausen weighed it first at 6-11, then at 7 pounds.

Kyle Danhausen holds his near-record smallmouth bass, shortly after being caught near downtown Chicago.

‘‘When I hooked it, I knew it was gigantic, but I didn’t know it was that big,’’ he said. ‘‘I said [non-newspaper words], and I realized it might be the state record.’’

Joe Capilupo caught the Illinois-record smallmouth (7 pounds, 3 ounces) on Oct. 14, 2019, at Monroe Harbor.

‘‘[T.J. Andres] was watching me on the other side of this point,’’ Danhausen said. ‘‘I went over to talk with him. I always hand-land them. He saw I went for the net, and he knew it was big one.’’

It weighed more than 7 pounds on Andres’ scale, too.

‘‘I couldn’t believe how big it was,’’ Andres messaged. ‘‘The girth on the belly of that fish looked almost unreal.’’

After Danhausen called me three times in succession — when I’m writing, I often don’t pick up — I answered. He was at Burnham Harbor, so I suggested he trailer the boat and head to Bridgeport Bait and Tackle. Meanwhile, I called Dan Edwards. They had the scale ready.

‘‘Oh, my goodness, we couldn’t believe it when he pulled that thing out,’’ Edwards said.

It was short of the state record by an ounce, 7-2.

‘‘It would have been cool to have the state record, but it was just a cool experience,’’ Danhausen said. ‘‘Usually those big ones get away.’’

His personal-best smallmouth (7-1) came from Sturgeon Bay.

Andres wondered: ‘‘Now that Henry’s [Sports and Bait] is closed, where does one go to weigh a fish in event [of a possible state record]?’’

There’s Bridgeport Bait and Tackle, 3549 S. Halsted, or Park Bait at Montrose Harbor. Park Bait’s Stacey Greene-Fenlon will drive a certified portable scale to meet an angler if she has someone to cover the shop.

Danhausen trailered back to Burnham to return to fishing, saying: ‘‘I need to catch one that is bigger.’’

MidWest Outdoors’ Jim O’Neil met him there. On the way out, they released the near-record fish, which swam off strong.

Wednesday is the final day for the first lottery for Illinois residents for firearm and muzzleloader deer permits.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame backhandedly recognized Warren Zevon , treating him like the state-record mooneye.