World Record Largemouth Bass
Though bass fishing is one of the world's most popular watersports, record breaking fish are hard to come by.
One might think that more world records would spawn from the seemingly never-ending bass fishing tournaments that occur each year, though the record for the largest largemouth bass ever caught hasn't been broken in 80 years!
Come dive in with us as we explore some of the largest bass ever caught!
Biggest Bass Ever Caught
George Perry broke the record for the largest bass ever caught back on June 2nd, 1932. Perry caught this world-record bass fishing out on Lake Montgomery in Southern Georgia.
The bass weighed a whopping 22 pounds and four ounces.
Unfortunately, during the 1930s, world records didn't exist yet. By today's standards, Perry was not a professional angler either. So he never even considered pursuing a world record.
His only goal at the time was to roll down to the lake with one of his friends and catch a fish to put some meat on the table for him and his family.
Luckily for him, this single catch was able to feed his six-member family for two consecutive dinners.
Mr. Perry's massive catch almost disappeared in the cracks of history, as the IGFA did not exist yet, and no one concerned with world record largemouth bass at the time.
However, when Perry heard about a big fish contest that the folks over at Field & Stream magazine were holding, he decided to enter. Even though he was not able to photograph the massive fish, he had taken weight measurements down at the local post office to prove his fish's size.
A few years later, Field & Stream began certifying world records and entered Perry's contest winner. To this day, Perry is still the official record holder. However, in 2009, a new world record largemouth bass came around thanks to a young Japanese angler.
Largemouth Bass World Record
Some of the largest largemouth bass are found in Japan. Go fishing in places like Daiwa, Gamakatsu, and Shimano, and you're likely to find largemouth bass in the water. However, the country is not known for its massive bass, which is why it was such a surprise when Manabu Kurita nabbed the world record largemouth bass back in 2009.
Ironically enough, the Japanese government declared largemouth bass a "nuisance" some time ago, often carrying out plans to get rid of them altogether. Even so, there are plenty of largemouth bass fanatics that fish for them daily.
So where was the world record largemouth bass caught, exactly?
World record holder Manabu Kurita reeled this big bass while fishing in Lake Biwa. After a polygraph test, the catch was confirmed as "legitimate." But, unfortunately, the big bass only came in at 22 pounds and five ounces. According to the International Game Fish Association, a new world record catch must be at least two ounces more than the one before.
So, Kurita and Perry are tied when it comes to the existing world record.
A Few Other World Record Bass Catches
Raymond Easley
On March 4, 1980, Raymond Easley caught a 21-pound, three-ounce largemouth bass. At this point in time, this was the biggest largemouth bass anyone had caught since Perry caught the world record bass back in the 1930s.
Easley was fishing with a few of his buddies out on Lake Casitas in California. Unfortunately, his buddies were not very good anglers, so Easley decided he would teach them how to properly fish for live crawfish.
Then, in a strange turn of events, something quickly crushed Easley's bait, that "something" turning out to be the catch of a lifetime. The fight didn't take long, and soon after, Easley went to weigh this near-record largemouth at a nearby scale. To this day, Easley still holds the record for the men's eight-pound line class.
Robert Crupi
Ask any bass angler about Raymond Easley, and they'll likely tell you what a revered name he has in the world of bass anglers. However, in our eyes, there's another angler in the bass fishing world that deserves equal respect and reverence, and that is Robert Crupi.
While not everyone can be a George Perry, many wish they could at least get a world record to their name. Crupi has four, three of which he received in a single year!
The first world record bass Crupi caught was a 21-pounder that he reeled in while fishing on Castaic Lake in Southern California back in March of 1990. At that time, this bass was the third-heaviest largemouth the IGFA had ever recorded. That same year, in December, Crupi managed to break the record for the men's four-pound line category while fishing in Castaic again.
FUN FACT: Crupi, a former policeman that is now retired, is a regular Castaic Lake fisherman. If you head out to this popular Southern California fishing spot, you may just see him with a line in the water!
Dan Kadota
Dan Kadota is another fisherman who capitalized on the biggest largemouth bass found in Castaic Lake.
A year before Crupi began his journey of being record after record, Kadota pulled a 19-bound bass out of the water during a chilly morning in January of 1989.
Kadota was fishing for crawfish along the lake bottom when he hooked this record catch. The entire process of netting and boating only took him about five minutes.
This bass became the class record for the men's 20-pound line and still remains the record more than three decades later.
Mackenzie Hickox
While most of the quality bass are found out in Southern California, Florida has some good fishing as well. In fact, thanks to the year-round climate, you can find great bass in just about any body of fresh water.
The most remarkable thing about this particular catch is that it came from a young angler named Mackenzie Hickox, who caught this 15-pound, 12-ounce in a manmade lake near her Daytona Beach home. At the time, Hickox was only 11-years-old, breaking the Junior angler record.
Even more remarkable is that Hickox decided to release the fish back into the lake so that it could continue growing.
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