This story has been bouncing around on ESPN for several days now, why would an individual refuse to record a world record fish even it it were foul hooked? If the average person caught a 25 lb 1 oz fish they would tell the world. What gives here?
Shadows of doubt
When the largemouth record does fall, there should be no room for doubt... and even then there'll be plenty of controversy.
By Dave Precht
March 24, 2006
A 25-pound bass boggles the minds of most bass anglers. After all, George Perry's 22-pound, 4-ounce largemouth record has stood for almost 74 years, and only one 22-pounder has been verified in all that time.
So, when news swept the nation that a 25-pound, 1-ounce behemoth was landed and weighed by a 32-year-old angler from California, it red-lined skepticism meters everywhere. Feeding the cynicism was the fact that the angler, Mac Weakley of Carlsbad, Calif., released the fish before its weight could be certified.
Weakley obviously knew what he had a ticket to fame, fortune and, very likely, immortality among bass anglers. Yet he released the fish. THE fish!
Why? the bass fishing world wants to know.
Like many other California record hunters, Weakley is almost reverent toward the bass he seeks. He wouldn't think of killing a fish, even if doing so would earn him a million dollars. He was so intent on avoiding stressing the big bass that he allowed only his companion, Mike Winn, to hold it while he took just three photos. He couldn't wait to turn it loose.
He's the only person ever to catch a bass that big, and he doesn't have his photo taken with it?
There's another snag in this saga: Weakley foul-hooked the fish. Not intentionally, he says. He felt the bite, saw his line move and set the hook. As would anyone. But when the fish came into view, he could see his jig stuck in the side, below the dorsal fin.
Some contend that the fish was caught illegally, since California fishing regulations define "angling" as taking fish by hook and line "in such manner that the fish voluntarily takes the bait or lure in its mouth." A good California lawyer might have beaten the rap. Indeed, Weakley told his companions, Winn and Jed Dickerson, "We need to call my attorney and figure out what we ought to do here."
He also thought about applying to the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) for world record status. IGFA only prohibits "intentionally foul-hooking" a fish. Lots of wiggle room there.
Doing the right thing
Ultimately, Weakley did the right thing. He decided not to pursue the record.
"I don't want (to set) a record like that when it's foul-hooked no matter what. There would always be doubts in the backs of people's minds," he told me. "People are saying we could still submit it, but I don't want there to be a 50-50 feeling about the fish," he said, referring to Internet chatter questioning the ethicality of the catch.
"When the record falls, there should be no doubt. We want to make sure that everything is perfect, so there won't be any controversy behind it."
I'm afraid that goal is far less attainable than a 25-pound largemouth. There will be controversy regardless of how the fish is hooked, as long as it's taken off a spawning bed in a Southern California trout pond like Lake Dixon. Count on it.
Weakley says it's only a matter of time before the record is broken, and he is confident he and his friends have as good a shot at catching the next monster as anyone.
If that happens, Mac, do us all a favor. Keep the fish long enough for officials to weigh and examine it. Measure its length and girth. Take a few more photos. And let someone wave a metal detector over it.
Then, and only then, will all doubt be removed.
