OK the time has come for me to do what I do best.....Stating the obvious.
Here it goes......
No matter what we say or do, nobody can prove that Perry's fish did or didn't weigh 22-4 pounds.
All we have to go on is that Perry said that he weighed the fish and it weighed 22-4 pounds. Therefore, until we can prove without a doubt that the fish didn't weigh 22-4, we must believe what Perry said the weight was.
The record is 22-4 pounds that's all there is to it.
Now I know some people have said how Weakley's, 25-1 pound bass is the world record. If we had let it slide that the fish was foul hooked and given him the world record; then we can put our selves on the same shelf as the MLB, who closed it's eyes when somebody broke a record while breaking a rule. Then saying "Hey people want to see a record broken....so let's all pretend that everything is alright and let it slide"
Sorry, that isn't right! A record that is broken by cheating is a record that still hasn't been broken!
I'm not saying that Weakley cheated, but a rule was broken when that fish was caught. That means that the fish can not be applied for the world record. It's just a hard cold fact. If you want to win, you have to play by the rules.
If anyone of us goes out tomorrow and catches a bass weighing 24-3 pounds would we say "I'd like to apply this fish for the second biggest caught even though the record is 22-4 there was a fish that weighed 25-1 so that really is the biggest"
NO!!!! You had better believe that you would be applying that fish for the world record because you know that 22-4 pounds is the real, long standing record that has never legally been beaten!
OK I'm done
Capt.O