New World Record Largemouth Bass Caught

News Flash–World Record Largemouth Contender

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Certified weight: 10.12 kg. = 22 lb. 5 oz
Length: 29.4 inches
Location caught: Lake Biwa, Japan

This was just on the TV news about an hour ago, so this is all the info I have. Mr. Okamura, the president of Deps Tackle Co., helped with the interview; I did not catch the anglers name.

We are well past the spawning season when most of the giants are caught at Lake Biwa; most of the fish now are quiet slender (after spawn condition). Not this one!

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.

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Update:!!!!

 

 

Seventy-seven years and counting. That’s how long George Perry has sat atop the record books in the largemouth bass category, but he may be sharing his perch if a recently caught Japanese bass is as big as has been reported.

The story comes out of Lake Biwa in the Shiga Prefecture of Japan. The bass reportedly weighs 10.12 kilograms or a little less than 22 pounds, 5 ounces and measured 73.5 centimeters (nearly 29 inches). No girth measurements are available at this time.

Nor is the name of the angler known. But if his catch holds up, it

would be the biggest legally caught certified largemouth in history (Perry’s

fish weighed 22-4) … and a tie with Perry’s catch as the International Game

Fish Association’s all-tackle world record.

That’s right. According to IGFA regulations for record fish weighing

less than 25 pounds (such as all of the black bass subspecies), the replacement

(record applicant) must weigh at least two ounces more than the existing record.

The Japanese fish that is subject of such interest and inquiry today outweighs

Perry’s fish by less than an ounce.

“A catch which matches the weight of an existing record or exceeds the weight

by less than the amount required to defeat the record will be considered a tie,”

according to the IGFA.

Lake Biwa is the largest lake in Japan, covering some 259 square miles, and

is said to be one of the oldest lakes in the world. It is surrounded by

mountains and renowned for its beauty and deep (more than 300 feet), crystal

clear waters.

Biwa and its bass population have been in the news in recent years as

Japanese officials work to ban and eliminate invasive (nonnative) species from

the lake. In fact, the Lake Biwa Museum restaurant offers black bass as a menu

item.

The previous Japanese bass record weighed 19.15 pounds and was caught by

Kazuya Shimada from Lake Ikehara on April 22, 2003 on a swimbait.

 

full article and pictures at http://delawaretrophybass.com