Home » New World Record Largemouth Bass- 77 Years Of Waiting Over!

Reprint

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.

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 had 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. I have had people tell me they have caught bass with these marks on them in Korea before. If they prove not to be marks from a net, then they must be an infection of some sort that I am not familiar with, but then my next question is raised, which is: "Why are they serving these and other fish from Lake Biwa on the restaurant menu with those types of infections on them? I know I certainly wouldn't want to eat anything that had those marks on it. If that's what you can see..What is in it that you can't see?( I later found out that they were spawn marks caused by rubbing against structure.)

After talking with Manabu Kurita for the last 2 months I have come to find out that he is a serious trophy hunter and none of this is true and he is a great person.
http://delawaretrophybass.com

THE VIDEO OF THIS BASS IS NOW UP IN THE VIDEO SECTION OF THIS SITE. http://www.delawaretrophybass.com/apps/videos/

Steve vonBrandt Sponsored by: GYCB (Yamamoto),Okuma, TTI-Blakemore, and Ambush Lures.

Steve was the owner of a bass fishing Guide Service in Wilmington, Delaware, Anglers Radio in Delaware and New Jersey, and Delaware Tackle in Delaware. He is a tournament angler and freelance outdoor writer. He has over 40 years of fishing experience in the Northeast and California. He has fished lakes, ponds, and rivers from 1962 until the present. His new website offers over 180 bass fishing instructional videos for free at Delaware Trophy Bass.
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