New WORLD-RECORD LargeMouth???

[Danegeld]

World-record bass – maybe – pulled from Lake Dixon
 
       

By Ed Zieralski
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
12:51 p.m. March 20, 2006

Mac Weakley photo
Mike Winn shows off the 25-pound bass caught by Mac Weakley.
SAN DIEGO – Mac Weakley of Carlsbad caught what could be the world-record largemouth bass early Monday at Dixon Lake in Escondido.
The bass weighed 25 pounds, 1 ounce on a hand-held scale, which – if approved – would shatter the world record, the 22-pound, 4-ounce bass caught by George W. Perry at Montgomery Lake in Georgia in 1932.

The catch will have to be approved by the International Game Fish Association.

That may be a problem, however, because Weakley said he foul-hooked the fish – meaning the hook lodged below the dorsal fin on the fish's side, not in the fish's mouth.

Weakley was fishing with his longtime friends Mike Winn and Jed Dickerson. Dickerson caught a 21-pound, 11-ounce bass at the same lake in 2003.


The men believe this is the same fish that Dickerson caught almost three years ago, and which was also caught by another fisherman as a 20-pounder in 2001. They said the fish has the same identifying black dot under its right gill plate.

Weakley released the fish after taking pictures and videos of the weigh-in. But he did not take measurements of the fish, which also may be a problem when it comes to the game fish association approving it as a record catch.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/outdoors/20060320-1251-bn20bass.html

[Lawful Larry]

If this checks out, it will be a nice new record.  I always thought the next record would come from California.  They definitely have some large bass in their reservoirs. 

This truly was a nice fish.

[kyelkhunter3006]

That's one FAT bass!!  I'd love to catch one like that.  My biggest was 8lbs.  I guarantee that the IGFA won't certify it though.  He admits it was foul hooked, didn't weight it on a certified scale, and doesn't have any measurements to back it up.  In the last several years, physical measurements have become very important for record keeping.  There have been a few records overturned lately because the measurements of the fish didn't work out.  If he didn't turn his scale over to an official of some kind after weighing, they might say that he could have had it altered to meet certification.

Although it is a BIG fish, to me, it doesn't look long enough to be 25lbs.  I've seen the current record replica mount, and it sure looks a lot longer than the fish in the article.  The 22lb bass that Bob Crupi caught in California several years ago also looks longer that this one.  But who knows, I've never seen a bass that fat before, so it could be "THE ONE".  Even if it's not, I have no doubt that the new record will be from one of the reservoirs in California.

[corbanzo]

If it doesnt approve, I wonder how many people are going to be out on that lake trying to catch that fish and break the record.  Remind me to keep any record fish I catch....

[SingleShotShorty]

It's a real shame that he snagged it and didn't catch it, I don't believe it will hold up for a new record not being hooked in the mouth

[bigjeepman]

Did it look something like this?



bjm