# New World Record BASS



## jamesavp

there has been a record class bass caught that is 22.5, one ounce larger than Perrys record by one ounce, by the rules though it has to be 2 ounces bigger to break the record. Crazy, What does everyone else think? I think they should have let Mack W weigh in his 25 lb bass from california and count it. just my two cents, what does everyone else think.

http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/ga ... largemouth


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## diver_sniper

Ya know, I always thought they should have put Dotty in the books too, until I realized how things work over there in Cali. Stocking their water with thousands of trout fingerlings to put extra weight on their fish is pretty lame. Just like it's lame that people practically hand raise deer to put big racks on them. Just like it's lame that Barry Bonds had to use roids to get the home run record in baseball. You get my drift.

I don't know the whole story behind this new record (seems like no one does), but I find it interesting that it came from a lake where bass are considered an invasive species and everyone but the bass fishermen want them out of there. They also claim that commercial fisherman have netted fish bigger than that out there. Some people have argued that it shouldn't be counted at all, because large mouth aren't native to those waters. Which actually isn't a bad argument.

Now that I think about it a little more, I'm glad it's only good enough for a tie. The old record is a much better story. 19 year old kid catches biggest bass on record with the one and only lure that he owned while simply trying to catch something to feed his family with during the great depression. It was a totally natural fish that got that big just because. No one played any role in helping it to get that big. That sounds much better than: Japanese pro staffer with ridiculous bleach blonde hair catches world record bass out of water that it never should have been in to begin with.

There are also people who don't even believe the claimed weight of this fish is accurate. I can't help but be a little suspicious myself. Looking at pictures of dotty and then and this new fish... I'm not so sure it measures up. There's also a chance that this is just a promotion scam by the tackle company that sponsors the guy who caught it. At first I heard he caught it on some fancy swim bait, but now in the article just posted it said live bait. Who knows.

It will be a story to keep following, that's for sure.


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## ileddog

I agree. Dotty was a beast. Plus there are enough witnesses to atest to the shear size of that fish.


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## ImpalaSSpeed96

Ugly fish....


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## USAlx50

Japan = no care.. that and its just a bass. But Lol on that picture!


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## jamesavp

The World record bass is a instant lottery ticket in the US. The endorsements you would get would be huge. Your picture would be posted everywhere in the US. The bass is one of the only fish that can be caught in every state in the US (with exception to alaska so far) and even in Japan, Austrailla.


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## diver_sniper

There's a sign with info about the old record somewhere close to where it was caught that says the next record fish will be worth somewhere around 8 million dollars plus endorsements. I think estimate is assuming it would be caught in the US though, so I'm not sure what the dude in Japan is going to get out of it. He's an absolute idiot for killing the fish though.


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## Mr. Bass

jamesavp said:


> The World record bass is a instant lottery ticket in the US. The endorsements you would get would be huge. Your picture would be posted everywhere in the US. The bass is one of the only fish that can be caught in every state in the US and even in Japan, Austrailla.


There are no bass in Alaska...


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## jamesavp

The topic is about record bass and I may have forgotten Alaska but they wont allow the LM bass into the state because it would eat all the precious trout. They already are having problems with Northern Pike which is an evasive species in alaska. If they ever get introduced in Alaska they would be monsterous because of the trout. Hawaii has them though. So mr bass what do you think about the possible state record fish which is the actual topic. You are welcome to come in with a one liner and check my spelling if you want.


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## diver_sniper

Alaska bass probably wouldn't get that big because of the short growing season. I have no doubt they could survive up there though!

The new rumor on this fish is that it was caught in waters closed to fishing. Which would DQ it from the record book. And rightfully so. Dotty was snagged and weighed in at over 25. If that didn't count, neither should a fish caught in a safe zone.


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## jamesavp

Alaska is pretty cold, So your probably right about the size.

 That sounds good to me diverSniper. I didn't know he was fishing illegal water. I hope the record comes from the U.S. I am not sure why Japan is still keeping bass in their lakes with the locals complaning that the native species are being eaten alive by the bass. I guess if the revenue for bass fishing is high enough Japan will keep stocking bass.


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## diver_sniper

The problem is, it's a rumor, no one knows for sure right now. The guy and his dumb rod company over in Japan are being really weird about the whole thing. They aren't telling anyone anything. Everything is still pretty much a mystery. It's giving people a lot of time to get suspicious. I heard something about a Japanese company working on a little documentary about it. But that's not going to satisfy American bass fishermen. We'd rather see someone we trust from the US go over there and get the story.

This guys chances of making big money off of this whole thing are pretty much shot. He's from Japan, no one has ever heard of his gear, he's hiding in the shadows while all of us want to know the story. It's not looking good.

If a new record comes from the US I hope it comes from Texas. I hope it's not pure Florida strain. I hope it's caught by a serious bass fisherman, but not someone who is sponsored by any companies. I hope he catches it with something simple, like a T-rig or a jig, not a swimbait. And I hope the gear he catches it with is all small name. I hope he keeps it alive, and I'm not sure if I'd prefer to see him put it in a tank after it's officially weighed, or if I'd rather see him put it back in a different lake and not let anyone know which one.

He could also hand it over to the Texas fish and wildlife. They have a thing down there where they'll take fish 13lb or bigger from people and keep them in tanks, wait till they spawn, and then raise what hatches until it's big enough to be dumped in public lakes. It's an effort to speed up evolution basically. It's working too.


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## Mr. Bass

jamesavp said:


> The topic is about record bass and I may have forgotten Alaska but they wont allow the LM bass into the state because it would eat all the precious trout. They already are having problems with Northern Pike which is an evasive species in alaska. If they ever get introduced in Alaska they would be monsterous because of the trout. Hawaii has them though. So mr bass what do you think about the possible state record fish which is the actual topic. You are welcome to come in with a one liner and check my spelling if you want.


I didn't check your spelling, just made the point that there are no freshwater bass in Alaska...not a snipe, just an observation. There are places the bass might survive the winter up there, but Salmon is king, kinda like the eyes are here.

As for the state records, there are still big fish here, will Nelson produce another? Keep hearing of someone catching 8lb fish there...which I highly doubt is a fact...maybe 5 or 6, but a couple 8's in the same day? I think not. How about the better of the two? The ND smallie record is in jeaopardy here ALL the time.


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## jamesavp

:beer:
Sorry about the tude. I was having a tough day that day. I am glad you gave your 2 cents about the Record Bass. You make a very good point. I was so pumped about bass I forgot that Alaska didn't have them. 
I have heard that Nelson has had some dead bass pushing 10lbs that were sucked up into the intakes. I have a couple of buddies that have caught some 8lbers. I think that the next smallie state record will come from Audoban. I have seen some reall pigs in there and I catch 19 to 20 inchers in there every now and then, just not the weight they could be. If I ever got one during the spawn they might top the record.


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## Mr. Bass

No problem here!

What about Hecker's? I watched a guy pull a real pig of a smallie out of there about a week ago, on Saturday I think. Don't know how big it was, but it sure was nice! I bet that chain has some good ones in it too. But, then again, it is connected to Audobon, but then so is Sakakawea, so she may have a few good ones to give up as well. I have heard of people catching some real nice smallies while Walleye fishing.


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## delawarebass

Hey all. Here's the latest news I have so far.

The latest news is in! It looks as if this bass is going to be disqualified as a new world record largemouth! If everything that is coming out of Japan and ICAST 2009 is true, then this bass will not be certiifed as a new world record by the IGFA. It appears as if this bass was caught in an off limits area of the Lake and the IGFA does not accept world records from areas such as this. Will George Perrys record still stand?/ Looks as though it might, giving a lot of California and Texas bass anglers a new ray of hope. Here we go again. I can't wait to see how this is going to turn out in the next few weeks. I wrote to the Japanese agency responsible for certifying the catch and here is their response as of July 31st, 2009.

UPDATE FROM JAPAN!! 7/30/09

The angler submitted a world record application to Japan Game Fish

Association. We are in the process of checking it; as soon as it is

confirmed of its validity, the application will be forwarded to the IGFA for a

world record. Because it was a very important catch, we need to take

enough time to make sure everything is correct and IGFA-legal.

Best regards,

Tsutomu Wakabayashi

Secretary-General, Japan Game Fish Association (JGFA)

Asahi Bldg. 2F, 1-11-2 Ebisu, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

150-0013 JAPAN

Phone:81-3-5423-6022

Fax. :81-3-5423-6023

E-mail: [email protected]

The complete story and videos will be available at the main site of Northeast Bass Fishing For Trophy Bass.

http://delawaretrophybass.com


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## jamesavp

Glad to hear that the record for George P will stand. As for heckers, heck ya that place has a chance to put up records. I have personally caught 4lbers out of there. I seems every time there is a tourny there a 3lb plus smallie comes to the weigh in. New Johns, heckers, east park and west park all produce huge bass and largies aren't bad in there either. What a fishery.


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## spentwings

I knew there was something fishy about this story when I saw that Kurita bleaches his hair to look like Roland Martin.

Reminds me of the time I saw Roland take a 10 lb LMB on a fly rod wading Ocheekobee. You've never heard so many "Oh sons" come out of a mouth. The only fish I didn't see him release....bet she's still hanging on that old self promoter's wall


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## delawarebass

Manabu Kurita told me the truth today about how, when and where he caught the pending world record bass. Every detail. How do I know it's the truth? I know because Mr. Kurita doesn't care if his fish is certified as a world record or not.

Manabu Kurita fishes in the area where he caught the 22-5 largemouth.

Shy and unassuming, the 33-year-old Kasugai native became hooked on bass fishing 18 years ago.

"I saw a photo of a largemouth bass in a magazine and I was very impressed with how it looked. So, I tried fishing for bass and I became passionate about catching them," Kurita explained.

Kurita's passion takes him to the lake more than 150 times a year. According to his estimations â€" and those close to him consider the estimates conservative â€" Kurita annually catches more than 100 bass greater than 8 pounds.

On July 2, 2009, he landed his biggest fish ever (although not the biggest he has hooked). The 22-pound, 5-ounce behemoth ate a live sunfish he had rigged on a 5/0 Fina Power Finesse bait hook.

"I had noticed this big fish swimming around the bridge piling, and I was pretty sure she would eat a bluegill. So, about 11:30 a.m., I went to the bridge piling and cast the bait to the north side. I twitched it a couple of times and the big bass ate it. It was my first cast," Kurita explained.

Kurita showed me the exact spot on the bridge, made the exact cast and explained how surprised he was once he landed the fish.

"I knew it was big, but I did not think it was that big," he admitted.

Using the same techniques as when he caught the potential world record, Kurita landed this 8 1/2-pounder while showing the area to Bassmaster Magazine editor James Hall.

The IGFA has not yet certified Kurita's catch as a world record because of a rule that states a record fish cannot come from a sanctuary or no-fishing zone. The remaining question has been about whether the three marked bridge pilings where he was rumored to have caught the fish are no-fishing zones, and, if they are, was Kurita actually fishing near these three pilings? (The other bridge pilings are not marked, so fishing, anchoring and tying to them is totally legal.)

When I asked Kurita to take me to the exact spot where he caught the bass. He did not hesitate. We drove directly to one of the three marked pilings, confirming the rumors that he caught the fish in an area that was marked: "Do not stop." He could just as easily have taken me to another bridge support, one that would have completely negated the naysayers.

His honesty was refreshing. His motives seemed pure.

However, this supported those who questioned the legality of his catch. Does the "Do not stop" sign suggest, and thereby give authorities, the ability to ticket anglers fishing the marked pilings?

This determination is left to the local police and, ultimately, the Japanese Game Fish Association and the International Game Fish Association.

After my meeting with Kurita, I met with Yoichiro Oguri, president and owner of Popeye, a very popular tackle store chain (Japan's version of Bass Pro Shops). Mr. Oguri is a very well-connected and respected icon in the Japanese fishing industry. During our conversation, I asked if he had a contact within the JGFA, and, if so, could he find out the status of the Kurita world record application.

Mr. Oguri contacted JGFA and found out the delay was because of the fact that they were unsure of the local laws surrounding Biwa's no-fishing zones. Mr. Oguri then contacted the Shiga-Ken Police Department (enforcers of Lake Biwa laws). He asked them if fishing was allowed near the three marked bridge pilings. The answer was "yes." It is illegal to anchor or tie to the bridge pilings, but fishing next to or around them is completely legal.

Kurita broke no laws in the catching of the 22-5.

Mr. Oguri then contacted the chairman of the JGFA and informed him of his findings.

Moments later, the JGFA gave Kurita's catch the thumbs up and sent a letter of support to the IGFA. As of this writing, the IGFA has not yet commented on the status of the record. However, it seems all concerns about the legality of this catch have been answered. It is likely Mr. Kurita's bass will be recognized as the biggest largemouth ever caught.

And if for some reason the IGFA still does not recognize Kurita's accomplishment?

"That's OK," Kurita replied with a shy grin. "I think I might be able to catch a bigger one next year."


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## quackkilla

It is official!!

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bass ... id=4807839


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## spentwings

Good for him! :beer: 
A million+ bucks? He'll be able to buy a lot of sushi with that.


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## Chinwhiskers

I agree, good for him.


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## delawarebass

Congratulations to Manabu Kurita. He is a true trophy hunter dedicated to the pursuit of world record bass like no other. I am proud to say that in the past year he has become one of my closest friends, Another person who helps him a great deal but receives no real credit is Reika Ishaguro who designs his website, communicates his thoughts and wishes to me and others, and also is a great angler in her own right. Manabu and Reika are good friends and you can talk with both of them at my website at World Record Trophy Bass Fishing http://delawaretrophybass.com
Tight lines, and best of luck to all trophy hunters the world over on the next world record. Steve Owner


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