I don't want to hijack but it is MUCH harder to catch any fish on artifical lures than live bait...NO DOUBT!!!!

There should be two catergories:

Live bait

Artificial lures

I only fish for bass, so if other breed fisherman want to chime in, go right ahead.

Alan (bassnajr0

live bait or artificial bait... It does not matter IMO... 

I don't want to hijack but it is MUCH harder to catch any fish on artifical lures than live bait...NO DOUBT!!!!

There should be two catergories:

Live bait

Artificial lures

I only fish for bass, so if other breed fisherman want to chime in, go right ahead.

Alan (bassnajr0

I really don't buy that. Not for bass. I think that you might have a better chance of scoring a huge fish.

Fishing artificial is just too efficient. I'd bet my boat a solid year of fishing artificial produces more bass by at least 25% than fishing live bait.

I love all the different points of view!

There should be a separate record for Florida strain largemouth bass verses northern strain largemouth bass, two distinct different species of bass. Live bait verses lures, no reason to separate records based on how the fish were caught.

WRB

Now THAT I'll buy into 100%!

And not because I have a chance for the record or for any other self serving reason.

It just simply makes sense.

As long as it was legaly caught there should be no issue. That being said I don't agree with "training" and chumming because that changes the odds. In Illinois it's illegal to bait deer for the same reason. The guy who foul hooked "dottie" was a sportsman. IMO Kurita is just a guy looking for his 15 min of fame.

Live VS. Fake records...I am gonna do a poll on this. I'd be interested in what others think.

I thought the article was awesome! I gained quite a bit of insight about Japanese bass fishing because of his record catch.

I think it should be the world record even if it is by 1 oz. A bass loses weight due to stress after it is caught. The only way that you can get an accurate weight on a bass would be to weigh it when you catch it. George Perry's bass was dead (if memory serves me correctly) when it was weighed in. How much weight did it lose? Good question, but that can not figure into the equation. Otherwise there is doubt and second guessing. Also, I can not remember which one of the SoCal trio boys (Winn, Weakley or Dickerson) said that they caught a bass that weighed over the current record right when it was caught. By the time the officials got around to weighing the fish, it had lost a lot of its weight. Therefore, the only way to establish order is to let the official weight be conclusive. And if it is by one ounce, so be it. Therefore I do not agree with the reasoning of "two ounces". There are already too many variables that effect the weight. Let it be what it is.

It's a world record in my mind!

What stuck out the most to me was 2 truly magnificent fish died because of him - the world record and the DD one that took the bait and the rod overboard because he wasn't paying attention.  That was depressing.

There should be a separate record for Florida strain largemouth bass verses northern strain largemouth bass, two distinct different species of bass. Live bait verses lures, no reason to separate records based on how the fish were caught.

WRB

I know I would put a world record on ice, should I catch it (VERY doubtful), but is there a reliable set of keys to identify each species, and ensure live release?

What stuck out the most to me was 2 truly magnificent fish died because of him - the world record and the DD one that took the bait and the rod overboard because he wasn't paying attention. That was depressing.

They're a renewable resource.