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The first reports came out about a possible new world record largemouth
bass caught in Japan on July 2, 2009, and it weighed 22 pounds, 5
ounces, which was one ounce more than the 77 year old record of George
Perry.
Here is what I reported first on my website on july 2, 2009, just a few
hours after the bass was first caught.
Congrats to the angler on a fine catch.
Lake Biwa shocked the bass world a couple years ago by producing a bass
that was well over 18 pounds (The Japan record was caught at Lake
Ikehara, and weighted over 19 pounds.).
A
25 lb. bass was caught as by catch in a fisherman's net earlier this
year, so many thought it would be just a matter of time before a record
size fish was taken from Japan's largest (over 70 miles long) natural
lake.
More updates from the Deps site:
As best I can summarize before the actual translating: He (reporter) was
returning from a previous trip and had been out late that night. The
next day around 12 he got a call about the big bass and to hurry as it
was over 20 pounds. He arrived with a camera crew. The fish was
originally kept in a recirculating livewell but as the day wore on the
power died and so did the fish ultimately. Originally they thought of
donating the fish live to the local museum for tourism purposes. The
fish is now frozen and awaiting certification process.
When the fish was landed, the hook(s) fell out right as he got it in the
net. It is still unclear even from the translator whether it is a lure
or live bait that was used.
It
apears to not have been caught on the "Mother" swimbait as was
originally speculated. It also appears to have been caught in deep open
water.
ROD: SIDEWINDER THE DOM DRIVER F / E
LINE: TORAY SUPER HARD STRONG 25lb
Then on July 4, 2009, I received this update on the staus and a video
surfaced which i posted to my site.
It's amazing how quiet it is in Japan after the news that Japanese
angler Manubu Kurita may have tied the more than 77-year-old all-tackle
world record for bass with a 22-pound, 5-ounce largemouth he caught from
Lake Biwa in the Shiga Prefecture of Japan.
Jon Storm of BassFan.com said the lack of news could be because the
rights for the story have been locked in by a magazine there. Storm has
reported the bass was caught on live bait, but there's also a report
that Kurita used a $300 swimbait. He represents Deps Tackle Co., a
Japanese firm. Storm has been told that Lure Magazine in Japan might
have secured the rights to this fish story, so the details of the catch
could be a while in coming.
THE VIDEO OF THIS BASS IS NOW UP IN THE VIDEO SECTION OF THIS SITE.
http://www.delawaretrophybass.com/apps/videos/
I
was excited at this point with all the commotion surrounding this catch,
and the fact that we may have a new world record, even though I assumed
it was going to come from California like so many others also thought,
but it was still exciting to see such a monster finally weighed and
certified, so I thought.
Then came the news that they has certified the scales in Japan and it
was over the 22.4 mark of the perry bass, and that the Japanese media,
DEPS lure company, and LURE magazine in particular, had secured the
rights to the story and were witholding any other information at all to
the public because they were going to sell the DVD in Japanese later in
the year and run an article in Lure magazine. Hmmm. seems strange that
they wouldn't want to capitalize on the biggest money making opportunity
to hit bass fishing in 77 years, I thought.
At
this point I was wondering what was going on along with everyone else.
Then came the ICAST 2009 show in Florida, and the rumors started to fly
about the bass being caught in an off-limits area of Lake Biwa and the
IGFA does not allow world records from what it calls "Sanctuaries".
After hearing this, I started examining the photographs a lot more
closely. I ran the video in slow motion and after about 2 hours started
to really question the big red marks all over this bass. They really
looked familiar to me but I couldn't figure out from where. That was
until my cousin, who is a commercial fisherman came over and looked at
them, and said "Those marks on that bass look just like the ones on the
fish I catch in my Gill Nets!".
Now I knew where I had seen these before. I tried as hard as I could to
discount this theory by trying to find some type of predator in Lake
Biwa that may have caused those marks, but I couldn't. Then I tried to
find any other bass with those marks that lived in lakes that had a high
level of contamination, but I just didn't see it.
Now I am not going to say that I know conclusively that this is what
they are, but it seems strange that the IGFA has not received any
paperwork on this bass at all as of today, July 23, 2009, and neither
has any other organization in Japan that I am aware of. There is no
news, no comments by Japanese media, nothing! We will just have to wait
and see what happens, but at this point I am really skeptical! You can
view all these photos and videos yourself and you be the judge at
Delaware Trophy Bass.
http://delawaretrophybass.com
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