Yesterday, you reeled in a solid five-pounder and thought you were the man. Well, at Baitshop, we like to keep you humble, so here are the biggest bass catches ever!
OFFICIAL LARGEMOUTH WORLD RECORD: GEORGE PERRY’S UNDEFEATED BASS
On June 2nd, 1932, George Perry caught the current world record bass out of Lake Montgomery, an oxbow lake off the Ocmulgee River in southern Georgia. The fish (the whopper) weighed 22 pounds, 4 ounces. At that time, world records for fish didn’t exist. Mr. Perry certainly wasn’t a sport angler by today’s definition, and pursuing a record was nowhere on his radar. He and a buddy simply went down to the lake to put some meat on the table. After catching and landing the beast with a creek chub fintail shiner lure, they drove home, stopping to weigh the fish at the local post office. The fish fed Mr. Perry’s family of six for two consecutive dinners.
Since the IGFA had yet to be formed and no other agencies were keeping official world records for fish at the time, Mr. Perry’s catch almost slipped through the cracks. Luckily, Mr. Perry was told about a big fish contest that Field & Stream magazine was running. He entered the fish, and although he had no photograph to accompany the submission, the measurements and weight of his remarkable fish were enough to win the contest. His prize was an assortment of clothing and a shotgun with some shells. But most importantly, the fish was documented in print—claiming its rightful place in history as the biggest largemouth bass ever caught.
Two years later, Field & Stream began officially certifying world records. When it came time to fill the largemouth bass record, they entered Mr. Perry’s contest-winning fish. It was the biggest bass they’ve ever heard of by a long shot. Coincidentally, Mr. Perry won the same big fish contest again that year with a 13 pound 14-ounce bass. Some people are just born fishy…
Technically, Mr. Perry’s bass is still the world record holder. In 2009, however, a Japanese angler stamped his name in the books alongside Perry’s with a mega-bass of his own.
TIED WORLD RECORD LARGEMOUTH BASS: MANABU KURITA 22.5 LB
Although some of the best bass fishing tackle hails from Japan—Shimano, Gamakatsu, and Daiwa to name a few—the country isn’t usually thought of as a monster bass hotspot. Since largemouth bass are non-native, the Japanese government considers them a nuisance, actively carrying out plans to exterminate the species. Still, there are enough bass to sustain a niche group of hardcore bass fanatics, including Manabu Kurita, the only man to have ever tied Mr. Perry’s undefeated world record largemouth bass.
Kurita caught his record bass in Lake Biwa, and the catch was confirmed as legitimate through a polygraph test. Weighing 22 pounds, 5 ounces, the bass actually surpasses Mr. Perry’s 1932 record bass, but IGFA regulations require that the new record outweighs the current record by more than two ounces. So for official record purposes, the catch is considered a tie.
Now the question is, who will step up and establish the new world record largemouth?
All credit for this article goes to Huk Gear. https://www.hukgear.com/pages/biggest-largemouth-bass-ever-caught
