I just read an interesting article from 2003 on flw outdoors about a lady who caught a 22 1/2 lber out of spring lake ca. The article says the next WR will be worth "8 million dollars plus endorsements". Is that true? If so, that could definitely help with the cost of gear required to catch a WRB lol.

Lots of stories, little facts....

Tom

Lots of stories, little facts....

Tom

Like those 24 lbers out of Baccarac.

I think it may be caught in a northern lake.thing is it could be only one in a naturla musky lake or trout lake.who knows i do know things live longer in cooler water.and i beleive she will be 30+ yrs old .just not many anglers up north fish for bass 20+ pounds .might have to think outside the box,,like instead of swimbaits maybe a certain color/size crawdad specific to this body of water over a 30 yr period,,who knows .bodys of water whether ocean or small lakes are pretty much the last frontiers.

Melones is primed to break the spot record again this year... water is down 220 feet from the water dump to the salmon and farmers (all ramps out of the water and only one makeshift shore launch for the entire lake the last month or more requiring a 4x4... pretty much zero pressure). Kokanee are still planted annually, shad are everywhere, and the trout plants are about to start up again. Plus records are in the air with the WRB spot and lake record LMB (18.11), rainbow (8.2) and brown (13.4) all falling the past 4 years.

 

There are quite a few 10+ lb LMB swimming in the foothill lakes around here, but as cool as it would be I doubt there's anything at or much above 20 lbs in Melones, Don Pedro, or possibly even Tulloch. As far as the SM WRB goes, I'm still pulling for someone to catch her out of Pardee...

I just read an interesting article from 2003 on flw outdoors about a lady who caught a 22 1/2 lber out of spring lake ca. The article says the next WR will be worth "8 million dollars plus endorsements". Is that true? If so, that could definitely help with the cost of gear required to catch a WRB lol.

Spring Lake!!!!!! that's my home

I hope it will never be broken but if it does I hope it doesnt come from Ca. or Japan.  I'd prefer a more romantic story like a high mountain lake in Cuba or it falling for an old time hard lure on a forgotten river in Miss or Ala.

You do realize that was broken a couple years ago in Japan right?

I just read an interesting article from 2003 on flw outdoors about a lady who caught a 22 1/2 lber out of spring lake ca. The article says the next WR will be worth "8 million dollars plus endorsements". Is that true? If so, that could definitely help with the cost of gear required to catch a WRB lol.

Uhmmmm no. That fish was no where near the claimed weight and dismissed as the fraud that it was. On top of that Kurita made very little money from catching the world record. He had to go out and earn the money after the fact through sponsorship and promotion. Nobody just runs up and hands you millions for catching the WRB.

I'm going with anything but Dixon lake in san Diego, ca. Its about 5 minutes from my house and more like a pond than anything else lol. Theres really only one place to fish from shore, and no boats, just kayaks and the like allowed and only caught a few smalls ones and have been there alot. The record at Dixon was 25.1 and to my knowledge the fish died a few years ago, and so far the only fish there it seems is about a pound to two at the most. Definitely not my favorite lake in Socal

Half the lake can be fished from shore and there are plenty of huge bass in there. The locals have learned to keep quiet.

Uhmmmm no. That fish was no where near the claimed weight and dismissed as the fraud that it was. On top of that Kurita made very little money from catching the world record. He had to go out and earn the money after the fact through sponsorship and promotion. Nobody just runs up and hands you millions for catching the WRB.

That's what I figured. (That would be a fun little lake to fish though!)

Here's the thing. A new world record would be worth a ton of money.

For one, B.A.S.S. would probably give the catcher a large monetary prize, if he happened to be a member.

For two, every company would want the dude to say that he caught that bass on their baits. So when it really comes out that he caught it on Stren 12 lb. mono and a Mann's Jelly Worm and an Abu Garcia rod/reel, he would probably get a lifetime supply of stuff from those companies.

At one point in time back in the 1990's a million dollar reward for a new all tackle world record largemouth bass was available if you joined by membership the organization sponsoring the reward.

The nuts came out of the woodwork during that time periods, it was a circus in SoCal lakes because we were the promised land that would produce the record bass.

Bob Crupi's 22.01 lb came close, but that bass wasn't properly authenticated, he released before it could be officially weighed and examined.

Kurita's 22.3 lb bass is the world record in my book, the bass was properly authenticated with no questions.

Dottie may have been 25.1 lbs, we will never know because that weight was never authenticated and she was released before being examined and the fact caught illegally being foul hooked.

As I recall Hurita tried to sell his WR bass mount to make money.

Tom

At one point in time back in the 1990's a million dollar reward for a new all tackle world record largemouth bass was available if you joined by membership the organization sponsoring the reward.

The nuts came out of the woodwork during that time periods, it was a circus in SoCal lakes because we were the promised land that would produce the record bass.

Bob Crupi's 22.01 lb came close, but that bass wasn't properly authenticated, he released before it could be officially weighed and examined.

Kurita's 22.3 lb bass is the world record in my book, the bass was properly authenticated with no questions.

Dottie may have been 25.1 lbs, we will never know because that weight was never authenticated and she was released before being examined and the fact caught illegally being foul hooked.

As I recall Hurita tried to sell his WR bass mount to make money.

Tom

 

"Sowbelly" by Monte Burke documents this quest for the world Record bass rather well.

 

btw Tom, thanks for recommending it - I enjoyed it.

 

A-Jay

In the IGFA books Kurita´s bass ties the previous WR, but one nanogram heavier is heavier period, Kurita´s bass is the record to beat.

In the IGFA books Kurita´s bass ties the previous WR, but one nanogram heavier is heavier period, Kurita´s bass is the record to beat.

I agree, this fish was under a lot more scrutiny than Perry's fish...

Yeah but when you get in the grams its to close to call...

So what if I weigh my bass right after I pull him out of the water and he is still dripping wet and he weighs a gram over the record is it still bigger than the record? Because he could easily lose a gram after a few pictures and letting him drip dry, To many variables when the weights are that close.

Yeah but when you get in the grams its to close to call...

So what if I weigh my bass right after I pull him out of the water and he is still dripping wet and he weighs a gram over the record is it still bigger than the record? Because he could easily lose a gram after a few pictures and letting him drip dry, To many variables when the weights are that close.

 

Reason why IGFA has the 2 oz rule. In freshwater records the fish has to be at least 2 oz more, Kurita´s bass weighted 22 lbs 5 oz one ounce more than Perry´s 22 lbs 4 oz, "tying" the WR.

Here's the thing. A new world record would be worth a ton of money.

For one, B.A.S.S. would probably give the catcher a large monetary prize, if he happened to be a member.

For two, every company would want the dude to say that he caught that bass on their baits. So when it really comes out that he caught it on Stren 12 lb. mono and a Mann's Jelly Worm and an Abu Garcia rod/reel, he would probably get a lifetime supply of stuff from those companies.

No the fish would be worth very little. The anglers ability to sell himself after he caught it would determine how much he could make. He would then have to earn that money. Kurita made very little money. People just assume they would get paid and this is not true.

Reason why IGFA has the 2 oz rule. In freshwater records the fish has to be at least 2 oz more, Kurita´s bass weighted 22 lbs 5 oz one ounce more than Perry´s 22 lbs 4 oz, "tying" the WR.

Yes I know, and its a good thing. In my mind they are tied, I mean shoot a bass can cough up a meal in the process of fighting it that could easily weigh an ounce or two....

Reason why IGFA has the 2 oz rule. In freshwater records the fish has to be at least 2 oz more, Kurita´s bass weighted 22 lbs 5 oz one ounce more than Perry´s 22 lbs 4 oz, "tying" the WR.

How accurate was the 100 lb postal spring scale that alleged to weight the Perry bass....+/- 2 %? Graduation in 2 ounce increments, accuracy was typical for that type of scale. The Perry bass was never authenticated, it was grandfathered in from a Field & Stream fishing contest with nothing more than the applicants word. Kurita bass, no question of the weight and the IGFA should have waived their 2 oz rule because they didn't validate the Perry bass.

Tom

Well you can argue whether or not Perry's bass should be the record but I still think the 2 oz rule is a good thing...

Well you can argue whether or not Perry's bass should be the record but I still think the 2 oz rule is a good thing...

Why?

Today's scales are digital and accurate within 1% or less! using 1950's technology doesn't make sense today.

The old spring scales had 2 oz incremental graduations, couldn't read them any more accurately than 2 oz.

IGFA test the scale used or validated the certification, no reason for 2 oz rule today. I believe the reason IGFA listed the Kurita bass a tie with Perry was to appease Ray Scott who was a board member and lobbied for it.

Tom

But how do we determine what scale is correct ?

Imagine Ray Scott in arbitration over a Bass in Japan, Go Figure...

You do realize that was broken a couple years ago in Japan right?

Do they not share the record in some sort of technical way?  Too few ounces between them I believe.  My original point being that I prefer the romantic skew of the original Perry record and ignore the freakish hand feed transplanted gene pool slugs coming from places out of their natural original range.

Do they not share the record in some sort of technical way?  Too few ounces between them I believe.  My original point being that I prefer the romantic skew of the original Perry record and ignore the freakish hand feed transplanted gene pool slugs coming from places out of their natural original range.

In your opinion a world record largemouth bass can only be caught in Florida or a state boarding Florida that has pure Florida strain largemouth bass? Northern strain largemouth bass don't grow to weigh over 16 lbs!

Tom