Bass Fishing's Greatest Record

[Bass Junke]

I have been thinking about the Mass state record lately. Now before everyone switches to a different thread or starts rolling on the floor laughing lets think about this. A pretty impressive fish from Massachusetts? Hardly optimum growing conditions. So I  decided to do some research to at least find out how valid the catch was. Look what I found an article from Outdoor Life echoing my thoughts. 

https://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/gone-fishin’/2013/08/bass-fishing-greatest-record/

 

To my surprise the article mentions a 14.2lb. bass caught in Gardner in 2013. This is even more amazing IMO, anyone from Mass will tell you the climate in Gardner is very different from Carver. To kind of put it into perspective, right now, Carver is open water, not so sure about Gardner. I would suspect Lake Wampanoag is still under ice. 

 

Here is the Worcester Telegram article about Bryan Tuliano and the 14.2 fish he caught. I included it because it is a pretty cool story and Bryan seems like a stand up guy. Unfortunately the facts of the story are somewhat lacking to say the least. First if you use the weight calculator on BR and use the dims given in the story, Bryan might have broken the world record. Of course we can all tell that the bass in the picture does not have a  30" girth. I'm not so sure those water temps are correct either. Low 80's on June 23 in Gardner? Maybe. Anyway, here is the article.

https://www.telegram.com/article/20130730/COLUMN10/107309945

 

https://www.thelocalhookupma.com/id42.html

 

That last link has a photo of the state record mounted plus a few photos of some of the other state record fish. 

 

So all you southern folks that have access to waters with FLMB in them, the Mass state record brings hope. If we can catch NLMB in the 14 and 15  pound range in Massachusetts. Then the next 23lb. bass doesn't have to come from California, Texas, Mexico, Japan, or South Africa. Sure there is a good chance it will but I won't be surprised if a 23 pound bass shows up in Mississippi or Alabama some day. All us folks up north we are still up SC without a P. Nobody is catching any world records up here. State records, on the other hand, are swimming around. Unless we are talking about this fine state of Mass. Our chances of a state or world record are looking pretty bleak. 

 

So, a couple of questions to ponder. I hope WRB chimes in on this. How big would Walter's fish have been if it was caught like most other giant bass, during the spawn? 

 

Once again both of the bass in the article were not living in optimum growing conditions. How did they get so big? Age ,abundant forage, genetics. All of the above?

 

This is the largest NLMB on record. Do you think a larger one was caught anywhere else? Lots of anglers would not know. If memory serves, WRB's largest NLMB was 14. something. 

 

Well I don't think this will make Massachusetts the fishing capitol of the world but it was nice to shine a little light over here. We get over-shadowed by Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York and rightly so they all have better fishing then we do. But, who's got the biggest bass?

[roadwarrior]

WRB's was 19.6

[Basswhippa]

I’m not one to dog peoples fish pictures, but that 14 pound 30 inch girth just doesn’t look credible.  The state record photos do.

[jbsoonerfan]

4 minutes ago, Basswhippa said:

I’m not one to dog peoples fish pictures, but that 14 pound 30 inch girth just doesn’t look credible.  The state record photos do.

I agree, it doesn't look like 14 lbs and there is NO WAY that fish is 28" long and has a 30" girth. 

[Bluebasser86]

I'd be really surprised if that 14lb fish hit DD weight on a certified scale. I thought it was just a picture of the author with one of his better catches or something until it mentioned it as the 14.2lb fish ? Maybe just a really bad angle or something, but when you start getting those crazy numbers thrown out there (anyone that knows much at all about bass measurements knows that 30" fish just don't happen, AND a 28" girth?), makes it pretty hard to believe.

 

I remember reading about the 15lb fish though. It was incredible then and still is now. Biggest bass ever through the ice. Beats our state record by 3.5 pounds despite being much further north. One of those records that will likely never be broken.

[jbsoonerfan]

I might add, this is like Mickey Mantles "alleged" 643 and 565 ft home runs as the farthest home runs ever. This "alleged" 14 lb bass is just crazy.

[Biglittle8]

Maybe it's a bad photo, but I just don't see 30" of girth on that fish. There are some fish you look at and think" I can't believe that fish only weighs 6 lbs" This fish has the opposite effect on me 

[Dwight Hottle]

Here is a little info that might help clarify the stated measurements & photo.  The below picture & the original weighing & measuring was done by me. It was weighed on a Salter Brecknell digital scale & a Berkley digital. This bass weighed 14lbs-8 oz. It measured 25.75" long & had a 24" girth. It was caught from a pond in southern GA. 

 

 

 

 

[roadwarrior]

A picture is worth a thousand words.

[A-Jay]

The debates over old record catches will probably continue forever, like folklore.

Especially some of the older submissions that seem to have zany or even contradicting information. 

This MA record might be one of those. 

 

This pic is a FLMB caught by Big Fish Jeff, she was barely 26 inches long (didn't get the girth, should have though) and pulled our scales down to 12.23 lbs.  These fish seem to carry their weight the entire length of their bodies.

 It may be different for NLMB but I've never seen a DD NLMB so I can't say for sure.

Either way, if this fish was 30 inches long, hard to know what she would really weigh but I'm confident in saying that the extra 4 inches would equate to something quite a bit more that 2 lbs.

 

#bigbassarefun

A-Jay

 

[NorthernBasser]

I've never seen a 14 lb bass in person before, and I can still confidently say there's 0% chance that bass is 14 lbs. 

[Team9nine]

On 3/17/2021 at 5:12 PM, Bass Junke said:

I have been thinking about the Mass state record lately. Now before everyone switches to a different thread or starts rolling on the floor laughing lets think about this. A pretty impressive fish from Massachusetts? Hardly optimum growing conditions. So I  decided to do some research to at least find out how valid the catch was. Look what I found an article from Outdoor Life echoing my thoughts. 

https://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/gone-fishin’/2013/08/bass-fishing-greatest-record/

 

I agree, the Mass. record belongs right up there with the other world class bass catches - a true freak of nature. I also am in the camp that the Tuliano fish isn’t anywhere close to what was asserted weight wise.

 

Quote

So, a couple of questions to ponder. I hope WRB chimes in on this. How big would Walter's fish have been if it was caught like most other giant bass, during the spawn? 

 

Not that much bigger. Look at the pics and it’s pretty obvious she already has a significant belly. Eggs actually start forming in the fall, and are carried through the winter. They do swell and mature the closer it is to spawning time, but it doesn’t add near as much weight as most people think. I’d say in this case, maybe half a pound additional weight. Would have been interesting to be the taxidermist in this case and seen the food to egg ratio in this fish. 

 

Quote

Once again both of the bass in the article were not living in optimum growing conditions. How did they get so big? Age ,abundant forage, genetics. All of the above?

 

All the above...everything has to go right for these giants. They have to live long and grow fast; have that freak genetic capacity; and never go a season starving for food.

 

Quote

This is the largest NLMB on record. Do you think a larger one was caught anywhere else? Lots of anglers would not know. If memory serves, WRB's largest NLMB was 14. something. 

 

Nope. There have only been a handful of 14 pound northern strain bass ever caught to my knowledge. Our state (Indiana) record of 14-12 is in that same class; a freak of nature. Haven’t seen anything close in the 30 years since it was caught. Arkansas had a couple fish in that 14+ class caught, but that’s about it. Not certain about California, probably a few there, but FL genes were brought in to the state early, and while never officially stocked in most waters, if you’re not testing for it, you wouldn't know if someone transplanted a hybrid to other waters along the way. Lots of bait bucket biologists in the world.

[Team9nine]

To go along with the Tuliano big bass pic discussion. Josh just posted this today (unrelated).

 

That’s 13.2 lbs left, 10.8 lbs right - or you can have Tuliano’s 14.2? I’ll take either of Josh’s two ?

 

 

[A-Jay]

15 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

To go along with the Tuliano big bass pic discussion. Josh just posted this today (unrelated).

 

That’s 13.2 lbs left, 10.8 lbs right - or you can have Tuliano’s 14.2? I’ll take either of Josh’s two ?

 

 

 

Oh My ~

That is one of the biggest pairs of green bass I've seen in a while.

Congrats to Josh just for being able to hold them ! 

A-Jay

 

 

[ironbjorn]

Men will always lie about size. 

[Team9nine]

2 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Oh My ~

That is one of the biggest pairs of green bass I've seen in a while.

Congrats to Josh just for being able to hold them ! 

A-Jay

 

 

 

...And to think he says that’s 3-lbs off his PB two fish weight he later caught this year. Estimated 75+ over 8 lbs YTD so far landed by his boat (him and partners), including 25-30 DD bass - all from TX and OK.

[Derek1]

I don’t have much to say about that 14 pounder. But I do know that mass and southern NH do give up some decent bass every year. Obviously I don’t hear about DD’s. If you go into some of the mom and pop gas station/bait shop beside some of these smaller off the beaten path lakes and ponds. There a pics on the walls of of real quality fish mostly taken at night. Also since I met a local guy that makes Swimbaits. He’s shown some serious pics. Also mostly at night. Can’t pry out of him where he fishes though. I’d be real surprised if allot of these pics weren’t over 7 pounds, and a handful bigger. I know that’s not quite what we’re talking about here, just adding some info. 

[Bass Junke]

On 3/17/2021 at 6:00 PM, roadwarrior said:

WRB's was 19.6

That is an FLMB. He has posted his largest NLMB before and it is 14. something. 

[Bass Junke]

Okay guys I agree that Bryan's fish does not look 14lbs. The article accompanying it does it no justice as Mark Blazis outdoors does not seem very knowledgeable about the great outdoors. Well not about fishing anyway. 

 

How many times on this site have disputed photos? How many times have we come to the conclusion that it is difficult to judge a fishes weight by a photo?  

 

The point of this post was not to dispute the weight of Bryan's fish or admire the Mass. state record. IMO the big bass factories seem to be drying up. 

California- Quote " there are even bigger ones swimming around" 

Japan- Quote "there are even bigger ones swimming around" 

Manabu's bass was caught in 2009. Seems to me that those bigger ones swimming around should have been caught by now. Where are they? Fish stories?

 

My point was if these 2 fish can be caught in Mass, then there is no reason a WR FLMB can't be caught anywhere they live. 

 

One more question. What part of the country has the ideal growing conditions for a NLMB? 

[WRB]

My PB NLMB was 12.3 lbs, all other were FLMB over 13 lbs, PB FLMB was 19.3 lbs. Both the NLMB and FLMB were the same length 28” The over body mass and girth, NLMB girth was 22”, FLMB was 28”.

Tom

[TnRiver46]

3 hours ago, Team9nine said:

 

I agree, the Mass. record belongs right up there with the other world class bass catches - a true freak of nature. I also am in the camp that the Tuliano fish isn’t anywhere close to what was asserted weight wise.

 

 

Not that much bigger. Look at the pics and it’s pretty obvious she already has a significant belly. Eggs actually start forming in the fall, and are carried through the winter. They do swell and mature the closer it is to spawning time, but it doesn’t add near as much weight as most people think. I’d say in this case, maybe half a pound additional weight. Would have been interesting to be the taxidermist in this case and seen the food to egg ratio in this fish. 

 

 

All the above...everything has to go right for these giants. They have to live long and grow fast; have that freak genetic capacity; and never go a season starving for food.

 

 

Nope. There have only been a handful of 14 pound northern strain bass ever caught to my knowledge. Our state (Indiana) record of 14-12 is in that same class; a freak of nature. Haven’t seen anything close in the 30 years since it was caught. Arkansas had a couple fish in that 14+ class caught, but that’s about it. Not certain about California, probably a few there, but FL genes were brought in to the state early, and while never officially stocked in most waters, if you’re not testing for it, you wouldn't know if someone transplanted a hybrid to other waters along the way. Lots of bait bucket biologists in the world.

Tennessee’s state record was 14 lb NLMB for a long long time 

[Big Hands]

I'm just going to say it. That is so not a 14 lb bass that it's laughable. Even if wasn't the spawned out sad sack that it is, it would not reach 14 lbs at that length. It doesn't look to be much more than 22", possibly 24" at best IMHO. 

 

My PB is 12 lbs - 13 ounces and it was about 26" in length. It was much healthier than the fish pictured, but not a super sow-bellied porker like some I have seen. It would dwarf that thing in the photo.

 

I'll chalk it up to the fact that most people in that area are not used to seeing fish that big rather than say they're being dishonest.

[Bass Junke]

2 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Tennessee’s state record was 14 lb NLMB for a long long time 

If I was to make guess or better yet if I was a NLMB I think I would want to live in Tennessee. Tennessee would be my answer to my last question. 

 

2 minutes ago, Big Hands said:

I'm just going to say it. That is so not a 14 lb bass that it's laughable. Even if wasn't the spawned out sad sack that it is, it would not reach 14 lbs at that length. It doesn't look to be much more than 22" at best IMHO. 

 

My PB is 12 lbs - 13 ounces and it was about 26" in length. It was much healthier than the fish pictured, but not a super sow-bellied porker like some I have seen. It would dwarf that thing in the photo.

 

I'll chalk it up to the fact that most people in that area are not used to seeing fish that big rather than say they're being dishonest.

So you guys keep disputing Bryan's fish and I am not advocating that his fish is or isn't 14lbs. It definitely does not have a 30" girth that is crazy. IMO don't blame Bryan for the poorly written article and and the fact that Mark Blazis got all the details wrong. Bryan weighted his fish on a scale, realized what he had, don't know how hard he tried to get it certified, but finally came to the conclusion that it was Sunday and nothing was open so he threw the fish back. Did he try his hardest to get the fish certified, we will never know.  Bryan seems like an angler of some skill, I'm thinking he knows how to read a scale so no matter what it looks like in the photo, when we are talking about the accuracy of a scale, usually we are talking about ounces not pounds.

[Team9nine]

27 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Tennessee’s state record was 14 lb NLMB for a long long time 

 

Tennessee’s 14-08 record stood for over 60 years. It is possible it was Northern strain, but also possible it wasn’t. It was caught in Lawrence Co., which borders Alabama and falls within what is believed to be the intergrade zone for NLMB/SLMB. When TN first went looking for FL genes in its bass population in the 1980s, they found them in low levels, but fairly widespread in many reservoirs already, long before they started their official/intentional introductions. Not certain if they did, but likely they wouldn’t have thought about testing for FL genes back in the 50s (may not have even been possible).

[Bass Junke]

6 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

 

Tennessee’s 14-08 record stood for over 60 years. It is possible it was Northern strain, but also possible it wasn’t. It was caught in Lawrence Co., which borders Alabama and falls within what is believed to be the intergrade zone for NLMB/SLMB. When TN first went looking for FL genes in its bass population in the 1980s, they found them in low levels, but fairly widespread in many reservoirs already, long before they started their official/intentional introductions. Not certain if they did, but likely they wouldn’t have thought about testing for FL genes back in the 50s (may not have even been possible).

Thank you for researching that and posting it. Good stuff.