Manabu Kurita’s possible world record bass is in the hands of the International Game Fish Association.
Kurita, 32, submitted documentation for a 22-pound, 4-ounce largemouth late Monday, according to an IGFA press release issued to About.com.
If approved, the bass – caught July 2 on Lake Biwa, an ancient reservoir northeast of Kyoto, Japan – would match the current world record, held for over 77 years by George Perry.
A decision by the IGFA is expected within the next 3-4 weeks.
Should make for an interesting World Record Game Fishes book next year as two trout records are also on the line.
On Sept. 5, Canadian angler Sean Konrad reportedly caught a 48-pound rainbow out of Saskatchewan's Lake Diefenbaker (which will challenge a 2-year-old record held by his twin brother Adam Konrad). On Sept. 9, Tom Healy reportedly a potential German brown record with a 41-pound, 7-ounce monster on Michigan's Manistee River.
All three fish have been surrounded by controversy as many have speculated the fish were sterile triploids. But Japanese biologists examined the ova of the big female bass and have concluded it wasn’t a triploid, according to the IGFA.
While none of the above fish were caught on flies, those were some big fish, no matter how they were caught.
So what’s the biggest largemouth bass caught on a fly?
Well, according to the IGFA, that’s the 14-pound, 8-ounce largemouth Larry Kurosaki landed at Castaic Lagoon in California on 12-pound tippet in Feb. 24, 2007. See the rest of the world-record largemouth bass catches on our records and regulations page.
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