According to the International Gamefish Association, a woman may have caught a new world record largemouth bass from Spring Lake, California. The monster bass sports a 25" girth and was 29" long, weight on a Boca Grip scale, 22# 8 ounces. Officials awaiting ruling since fish was not weighed on legal scales. What do you think? Why would anyone with a fish that size not seek out the DNR, a legal scale and several witnesses? Another hoax? Another weighted fish? A new record? Surely by now everyone knows how valuable a fish like that could be! What's your opinion? Johnnie

Johnnie,

There have been a few cases over the years where people weighed a fish in, but never correctly weighed a fish in for record certification. I would speculate that these people do not know the rules for certifying a record catch.

What I find interesting about this particular catch is that it is up for a record in the IGFA 12 lbs line class. The rules for IGFA are pretty detailed and to think that someone like the woman who caught the super bass would even know about the IGFA puzzles me. There are several companies out there who have and still do publicly state that they would pay anywhere from $1Mil-$8mil for the next world record bass if it were kept alive and could be displayed. I currently hold no records worth bragging about, but I have still managed to obtain cash sponsors based on my fishing achievements and my knowledge of sales and marketing. With that fish, a person with a little vision and some motivation could turn that catch of a lifetime into the “winning lottery ticket” they have always dreamed about.

There has been a big debate about this topic on another site I visit from time to time. They were discussing and even arguing over whether or not it is ethical as a bass fisherman to keep such a fish? Take into consideration, that most of the time the people who land a record fish did not plan on catching the fish, so they were not prepared to keep it alive. Guys like Bob Crupi are out there hunting for the next world record, so they have educated themselves with the record certification process and also have the necessary equipment with them to keep a super bass alive. It’s like the saying “don’t get caught with your pants down around your ankles” you can’t really do much if that happens…

I am interested in seeing how our members feel about this subject?

The question is: “What would you do if you caught a fish that you truly believed could be the next world record largemouth bass? Would you keep it, release it or even try to market it?”

Good post Johnnie…

BC

Brendan, while It's always a shame to keep a lunker bass, you have to consider a fish of that size must be very old and most likely would soon die anyway. I would make every attempt to keep the prize alive, how much pleasure it would be for anglers to actually see a live world record bass. Yes, I would try to market it and get the best deals i could to make some money and further my bassin' carreer. If a fool could garner $1,000,000, with my knowledge I could bring in a couple hundred bucks I'm sure. Love to hear more comments please! Johnnie

Well lets see, 1 million for a fish or let the fish go. hmmmm. I'll take the million myself.

I agree with Jonnie I would love to have it on display still alive and swimming for all to see, and I would get all I could get. That may sound unethical to some but, if someone walked up with a check for that much alot of folks would think for about a second and take the money.

I have never mounted a fish. I always said if I caught one of 10 I would. But now I have changed my mind about that too. With all the great taxidermist out there that do Fiberglass replica it would be such a waist to kill a fish just to hang on the wall. I would get better pleasure from the fake mount and knowing the fish is still swimming for someone else to make a memory with.

But a world record fish would change that. I would keep it alive for sure. Bass Pro Shop would be getting a call from me you can be sure!!

My 2 cents

Conley

Thanks conley, I don't know if anyone would knowingly throw back a million dollar fish, or eat it as some rumors speculate. Those are the ones that bother me, the people that claim to have eaten a new record bass or any other fish for that matter. I don't blame George Perry for eating the existing record, things were different back then.
Let's hear some more

Interesting point, of all of the really big bass to be caught lately, excluding Crupi's 22-3, there have been mysterious circumstances as to why these fish never made it to certified scales. The reason she is going for a line class record is that her son is a big game fisherman and already holds several line class records, thus making me more su****ious as to why this fish never saw a certified scale. In 2001, Paul Duclos caught a giant fish that was said to weigh 24lbs...again this fish never saw a scale. Now this fish is immense. The picture makes the new fish look small. Paul is a big fish hunter like Crupi and his excuse was he forgot his scale that day. I do not buy it. I carry a scale with me all the time and it is likely I'll never run intoa W/R bass here in NY. By the way,Bob Crupi is my God Mother's Nephew.

Even though Duclos forgot his scale, he still took the time to call his wife and wait for her to show up with their bathroom scale... Don't you think a better request could have been for a large cooler that could be filled with lake water? That would buy some time to get an air pump going... and while all this was happening, I am certain that he could have obtain a whole crew of people who would do what ever they could to help... How about calling the DEP or DEC while his wife was delivering the bathroom scale?

These are simply cases of "missed opportunities".

Here is something else to consider… I remember back when I first started bass fishing. The first time I caught a 4 pound bass, I thought is was 5 or 6 pounds. A 5 pound bass looked 7 pounds to me. The first time I caught a 6 pound bass I would have bet the farm that this fish was pushing 10 pounds… One word explains this phenomenon: IGNORANCE

I was ignorant because I had never seen a 4, 5 or 6 pound fish until I caught one and I couldn’t tell you how big it was until I put it on a certified scale. Perhaps in the back of these people’s minds, they decide after holding the fish for long enough, that it may not be as big as they first suspected. Therefore, a picture will do and they can say it weighed whatever they like. The two most common excuses being:

#1 “I LET IT GO”

#2 “I ATE IT”

The nice part about using these two excuses is all the FREE publicity these people get… It’s the nature of the system… Saying you did something is almost as good as doing it these days… I wouldn’t be surprised if a few of these people figured out a way to make a few bucks from their alleged catch. After all, look at all of us sitting around talking about them, right?

BC

My thought, The lady that caught that fish played all of her cards right for having "pulled the wool" so to speak. She and her son knew what was at stake if it were a new WR bass and they also knew what it would mean to the records he currently holds if they got caught lying. Bring in an outsider, an admitted non-fisherman who would have no idea if the fish were weighted or not. I think they settled for the line class because they knew they couldn't legally get the all tackle (and might have even stolen the line class as well). OK, maybe i'm a pessimist or whatever you want to call it, but if you don't have the rock solid proof, you don't have the record, period! If you get it legally, I think you deserve what comes with it, if you have to cheat to get it, you should be run out of this country on a rail!

Guys, I agree, it is foolish for anyone with a giant fish to not want to weight the fish. In the case of a possible WR bass, my first call would be to the DNR or whatever authority figure I could find, and yes, a giant cooler of ice water and some salt. I wouldn't waste my time or especially the fishs time phoning for a bathroom scale, these things never weight right, my wife keeps her set permantly at the perect weight for her size!! Some of these world's greatest anglers make me sick. Give me just one chance, I'll do it right and be rich and famous (no I wouldn't forget you guys) you could split my old tackle.

Thanks, Johnnie, exactly which lure was it you caught that fish on???