Rodger310 are you going to  call in tommorow and head to the lake

is there a link to the video that they said they took????

If it was a real record he would not have released it. Sounds like another bogus bass, or he really screwed up his chances of taking the record. Georgia maintains the record yet again!!!!  ;D

BTW. The IGFA wants the fish personally right? Videos, pictures and measurements will not get you the record. They want too see the fish. If you think you have the record anything. Take it to a bait shop, put it in their tank and wait for the IGFA guys.

Rodger310 are you going to  call in tommorow and head to the lake

I wish!! I'm a bank fishermen and have never seen Dixon. With the amount of fishermen this place will start seeing my chances are pretty shot unless I get on a boat somehow.

What I meant was I had to go to the bathroom!! That thing made my stomach start to turn! ;) LMAO

OMG!!!!! :o :o :o :o That fish is a freak of nature, it looks like it ate a bowling ball...wait make that 2 bowling balls. If I ever caught a fish like that.......my head would probably explode. But seriously, I would have at least taken measurements on the dang thing.

I wonder if my parents would like to go to lake dixon for spring break?

I just went to google and typed in world record largemouth bass and it all ready says that its the world record all I got to say, man news travels fast.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=world+record+largemouth+bass

                                      this one was the 2ed one down

World-record bass pulled from Lake Dixon - San Diego Union Tribune - 5 hours ago

The IGFA will not certify it as a world record. The dummy should have never released it. It sounds and looks too fishy to me.

The IFGA will not certify it as a world record. The dummy should have never released it. It sounds and looks too fishy to me.

If it was a real record he would not have released it.

Nobody is releasing a world record bass. I don't care who certifies it and how many pictures you have

Sounds like another Hee-Haw bass to me.

Too many details don't add up.

Wow, you guys are killing me. Why don't we all think about it for a minute and examine what happened. If he knew it wouldn't be certified (and I think he knew it probably wouldn't) why keep the fish? Then all of you could rip him for not letting it go. All of you who call this bogus because he let it go are the same ones that stand on your golden pedastals and claim to release all big fish. But now you should keep it... so anyone saying that will easily compromise principal and sell out for some cash. Great, that's what I want my kids to learn. > This being the same group who will preach like it's Sunday morning about CPR... so if he kept it, nothing good would come of it... except a few people would see the mount. Oh joy. What a stupid idea! And you know what, rich people have just as many problems as we middle classers. (they just cost more to fix)

Most of you guys are crying for a Sharelunker program for breeding... Or you are so ticked that Ga holds the record you want anyone to break it.... guess what, today both camps are full of freakin IDIOTS!!! This guy let the fish go and one of two things will happen (this would be a good place to start paying attention) either he catches it "legally" and we have a new world record - or he doesn't catch it and the fish spawns. Even if only 1% of her fry make it that is a boatload of fish with genes from a fish that SHATTERED the current world record, even if not certified! Its a WIN-WIN situation.

Removing that big female will do NO DAMAGE to a healthy fishery like Dixon or any of the likely candidates for the next world record

It sure won't help it!! And why take her out and still have all the nay sayers crying about hook location... that's a LOSE-LOSE situation.

Every person in Ca should write this guy a letter of thanks, he is the closest thing Ca has to a Sharelunker program right now! And any person who ever rooted for the record to be broken, for any reason, should love his actions.

And one more thing before I get off the soapbox- to anyone scrutinizing the photo - just how many photos of 25lb bass have you studied? That's what I thought.

To Glenn and all the Mods - Sorry, I realize this is a direct, even for me, but there is no reason on God's green earth to bag on this guy for doing something that most of us are not man enough to do. I'm actually mad at myself for getting fired up on this. I just thought that most people were into conservation and sportsmanship... or at least into something besides the almighty dollar. :-/

HE DID THE RIGHT THING and is a true champion of conservation and sportsmanship.

flechero, great post!

ok first of all, y is one person saying 22lb 7 oz, and the article said 25 lb? if i would have caught that fish i would of kept it alive and like put it in a big tank or something, since he released it there is a chance someone will come right behind him and catch it and end up mounting it or something like that, which would be a real shame. unless the guy that released it was tryin to go back and catch it again like some of yall said.

well said

The fact of the matter is he may have done the right thing by releasing it but by doing this he pretty much forefits the right to lay any claim to catching the WR.  Sorry pal :'(.  And especially if he foul hooked it. Great a big fish now catch it the right way and make sure you take all the precautions to get it certified if you want the fame.  Other than that great job hooking a fish that looks really big. I guess we'll have to see how this plays out but in my mind Its already over. Yesterdays news.

No carcass, dead or alive, no record.

I remember a gal weighing in a big un from CA. back in the 70's, xray's found a lead diving weight down in it's belly.

These guys knew the importance of that fish.  Releasing it back into the water is a crock. That fish was near the end of it's lifespan, it was worth far more in a tank at BPS than it was back in the lake.  

The last thing we want is another record standing for 70 years and people wondering was it foul hooked on purpose or accicent.  I think the guy done the right thing it takes some big kahunnas to do something like that. I would much rather my self have it hooked in the mouth than foul hooked and everyone saying that I snaggged it. He make the right call and no matter what anyone says it's still the biggest bass ever caught..by the way I'm not saying he snagged it on purpose if he was low enough to do that then he wouldn't have released it

I didn't read every post, but the story I read on another site was that of anglers knew the giant fish was there on a bed and had lined up to get a crack at her. He had a camping permit and got first shot. Witnesses saw him catch the fish and it was obvious that it was foul hooked. However, in CA that still could be considered a leagal catch.

I went to bed last night wondering if that fish would bite again in a day or so or if the trauma of being caught that way would keep her gun shy for a while.

Here are the pics

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

It was definatly caught and is legit. the problem is it was foul hooked. It probably wont be recognized but it IS the biggest bess ever caught period!!!

Why 2 tell it was foul-hooked and not claim the world record?

Flechero. I know you are not talking about me. I have posted to put a possible record in a tank if you want your name on that record. The fish needs to be seen alive by the IGFA guys. BTW. You don't see me posting catch and release big fish. 10lbs plus and he's a skin mount babyeee!!! BTW again. He says it weighed 25lbs on his de-liar. He new it was a possible record and he let it go. That in itself blew his chances of a taking the world record. The photo looks like all the other 20lb plus Cali photos. Huge!!!! You don't release a world record catch if you want your name on it. Put it in a tank to keep it alive!!!!

Cart7,

I'm not picking on you specifically but I was too lazy to go find other quotes and I have seen lots of posts here and on other threads that are nearly identical.

That fish was near the end of it's lifespan, it was worth far more in a tank at BPS than it was back in the lake.

I call B. S. on this kind of blanket statement. First of all, that is the same argument people have been making for fish in the 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and up lb. range for a long time. So if it's true, how long does it take for a 12 or 13 to grow to 25lbs? I say YEARS... several years. That means X number of spawns and more fish with great genetics and the fact that the original fish is still swimming around... how can you not like that? What happened to all the catch and release people... seems they all disappeared yesterday. This is the very essence of catch and release.

Lets assume that the quote is true, if the fish is near death, why go through the time & trouble to get it tank ready if it's about to die?

The difference between right and wrong is NOT measured in dollars and cents.

This SHOULD have been the coolest thread ever but after reading all the posts again this morning, I feel like I got sucker punched at a family gathering. I'm actually shocked at the response to this catch.

Why 2 tell it was foul-hooked and not claim the world record?

Cuz it was the right thing to do. He is still going through with the application process even though the fish was foul hooked, because the IGFA's rules concerning foul hooking a potential WR are pretty vague. If he lies about it and the IGFA finds out he definately wouldn't get the WR. Aside from that there were a decent amount of witnesses that had seen that the fish was foul hooked. He would have had a much better chance had he kept the fish. Taking a fish that large out of that lake is not going to hurt a thing. On top of that, that fish is OLD! You never know...it could die of natural causes within the week. I realize he will probably try to capture the fish again minus the foul hooking part. BUT IN THE IGFA'S RULEBOOK IT SAYS THAT THE WORLD RECORD CAN BE DISQUALIFIED IF THE FISH WAS INTENTIONALLY FOUL HOOKED. In the ESPN article Weakly said he did not know that he still had a shot at the WR even though the beast was foul hooked. Lake Dixon is only a 70 acre impoundment. That fish is old enough to have spawned many many times. That lake is already saturated with that fishes genetics. Also to maintain a healthy fishery in a lake that "small" sometimes fish have to be harvested to ensure the good future health of the fishery. All the above are good reasons to have kept that fish, and to take every possible precaution to keep the fish ALIVE. But as it has been pointed out, his shot at the WR is in jeopardy because: 1)He has no measurements, aside from weight of the fish. 2) He did not keep the fish. 3) The fish was foul hooked, but as I pointed out above, that is going to be completely at the discretion of the IGFA officials at to whether or not they say it is still a WR despite being foul hooked. 4)His scale he used to weigh the fish must be certified by the IGFA. I wouldn't have faulted the gentleman for keeping the fish, I don't fault him for letting it go either. In my book he is doing his duty to the conservation of that lake either way. The only thing I would have definately faulted him on is if he would have lied about any portion of the events that occurred, which up to now it appears as if he has been completely honest.

Wow!!!!! Lake Dixon is only 70 acres?????? That bass took up the whole lake. That's amazing!!!! He still should have tanked it and kept it alive to see if he could claim the WR. If they said no, then he could have released it alive to try again. I don't want to see that fish killed. I would like to see the next WR in a BPS's tank for all to see.  

Lets assume that the quote is true, if the fish is near death, why go through the time & trouble to get it tank ready if it's about to die?

Because, even though it can't be proved that this fish is or isn't close to it's end, the fact of the matter is that this is a very very old fish. The possibility of the fish dying soon is undeniably there. Let's say that the IGFA doesn't certify this fish as the WR. Then in the next few days they find this fish belly up. There goes the WR. The one fish that has been caught in 70 YEARS that could break the dubious Perry WR is dead. If he would have kept the fish it would have made a strong case for a legitimate WR. That would have been a wonderful wonderful thing for the bass fishing sport. Like I said though, I don't fault the gentelman for letting the fish go...in his mind he was doing the right thing because he did not think the fish would have qualified for the WR due to being foul hooked.

Flechero. I know you are not talking about me. I have posted to put a possible record in a tank if you want your name on that record. The fish needs to be seen alive by the IFGA guys. BTW. You don't see me posting catch and release big fish. 10lbs plus and he's a skin mount babyeee!!! BTW again. He says it weighed 25lbs on his de-liar. He new it was a possible record and he let it go. That in itself blew his chances of a taking the world record. The photo looks like all the other 20lb plus Cali photos. Huge!!!! You don't release a world record catch if you want your name on it. Put it in a tank to keep it alive!!!!

You posted while I was writing the above.

I don't care if he or anyone else keeps a record fish... my whole argument is that if he believed it would be DQ'd because of hook placement, there was no reason to keep the fish... especially if he thought he might have another shot at it. ANd if he doesn't, that fish will probably spawn. Like I said earlier, its a win-win by letting her go... it would have been lose-lose if he kept it, since it is as controversial as the current record.

Regardless of his motivation, that fish deserved a release.

As for skin mounts - I don't hold a grudge to anyone that has one but even the best taxidermy job will rot some years later, a glass replica will be correct in size, look better and last... and you can brag by saying you let her go!

It sure sounds like he tried to snag it to me the people from the pier say he missed the fish 4 time before hooking him. The whole story is a little fishy.