Bass Fishing's Greatest Record

[TnRiver46]

18 minutes ago, Bass Junke said:

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. 

 

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.

We are close to the southern end of many northern fish species range, like musky, walleye, and smallmouth. The world record walleye is from middle TN but it’s apparently disputed as well. I say if you can’t break a record, don’t dispute it haha

[Team9nine]

Just now, TnRiver46 said:

We are close to the southern end of many northern fish species range, like musky, walleye, and smallmouth. The world record walleye is from middle TN but it’s apparently disputed as well. I say if you can’t break a record, don’t dispute it haha

 

Yep - being at the southern most range is a good thing for most all fish records. Our IN state record bass was caught from a county bordering KY/Ohio R, about as far south as you can get. And the walleye, while disputed, was reinstated as the world record. Pretty good evidence at this point it was legit.

[Big Hands]

55 minutes ago, Bass Junke said:

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.

I have witnessed and been a part of enough events that were inaccurately reported in newspapers to know that they regularly get it wrong. Not rarely, but regularly enough that I don't have that much faith in what I read from newspapers. 

 

"Tuliano is very particular in his choice of equipment. He prefers a Viper (Piscifun?) spinning reel because they help him cast more accurately?"

 

"He always buys Matzuo or Gamagatsu 4/0 hooks from Japan. They're very strong and red. The latter factor, he believes, makes them more attractive."

 

TBH, that entire article is cringe-worthy and, for a journalist, poorly written IMO. I don't however blame the angler for that.

 

But, if he tried his hardest to certify the catch and he had a scale and a tape measure, he should have bothered to use them, along with his camera. He certainly could have used the camera to take a picture of the scale and the fish next to a tape measure.

 

This is a pic of a bass I caught last year that I estimated to be in the 8 lb range. I am over 6'4" (used to be 6'5" LOL), and I have hands that are larger than most. His fish looks maybe a little bigger, or about the same size depending on how big he (Tuliano) is. There is no way on earth that his fish is nearly twice the weight, and I don't think any credible person can assert that his scale may have only been a little off. If it's that much bigger than the 8 pounder his son caught, they probably used the same scale to weigh that fish. 

 

I am also including a pic of a 30" catfish my daughter caught last September. You can see the jitterbug it tried to eat if you look closely. Please don't try to me convince that Tuliano's bass is only two inches shorter than that. 

 

He caught a nice fish that could have been approaching ten pounds at most. 

[Dwight Hottle]

George Perry WR bass measured 32.5" long by 28.5" girth. 

Manabu Kurita WR bass measured 29" long by 26.7" girth. 

Come to think about it I have never seen or heard/read of a bass having a 30" girth. 

 

[Basswhippa]

2 hours 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).

Excellent information!

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, Big Hands said:

I have witnessed and been a part of enough events that were inaccurately reported in newspapers to know that they regularly get it wrong. Not rarely, but regularly enough that I don't have that much faith in what I read from newspapers. 

 

"Tuliano is very particular in his choice of equipment. He prefers a Viper (Piscifun?) spinning reel because they help him cast more accurately?"

 

"He always buys Matzuo or Gamagatsu 4/0 hooks from Japan. They're very strong and red. The latter factor, he believes, makes them more attractive."

 

TBH, that entire article is cringe-worthy and, for a journalist, poorly written IMO. I don't however blame the angler for that.

 

But, if he tried his hardest to certify the catch and he had a scale and a tape measure, he should have bothered to use them, along with his camera. He certainly could have used the camera to take a picture of the scale and the fish next to a tape measure.

 

This is a pic of a bass I caught last year that I estimated to be in the 8 lb range. I am over 6'4" (used to be 6'5" LOL), and I have hands that are larger than most. His fish looks maybe a little bigger, or about the same size depending on how big he (Tuliano) is. There is no way on earth that his fish is nearly twice the weight, and I don't think any credible person can assert that his scale may have only been a little off. If it's that much bigger than the 8 pounder his son caught, they probably used the same scale to weigh that fish. 

 

I am also including a pic of a 30" catfish my daughter caught last September. You can see the jitterbug it tried to eat if you look closely. Please don't try to me convince that Tuliano's bass is only two inches shorter than that. 

 

He caught a nice fish that could have been approaching ten pounds at most. 

 Nice fish! You should have played defensive end with those mitts!! Head slapping lineman like decan Jones 

[brgbassmaster]

On 3/17/2021 at 4:12 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/

 

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?

I don't think that fish Is even near 14lbs but I will say I have seen a ton of giant bass come from that state on a swimbait forum I also am a member of. 

[NYWayfarer]

That Bass is 14 pounds. If they took a picture of the other side you would see it had a 7 pound tumor growing there. ?

[Koz]

I hate to say this about any angler, but that guy Tuliano's story is BS and the picture is proof. The guy and his son were out fishing together and there was no official weight recorded nor other witnesses. The only way that thing weighed 14.2 is if it was stuffed with lead.

 

He told his story to a gullible reporter or friend and got his name in the paper. The "Outdoor Writer" was in cahoots with him or simply doesn't know his stuff.

 

 

[OCdockskipper]

On 3/19/2021 at 10:02 AM, Bass Junke said:

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

 

I would think that question would be answered by what parts grew the largest FLMB's - Southern California, Texas & Florida.

 

Southern California has the best environment as far as water quality & temperatures.  Never too hot, never too cold, just a 48 week growing season that slows at the end of December & start of January.  Lack of predators is a plus with the only negative being less forage available.  When forage is added (rainbow trout, kokanee salmon), Bass of all types will grow larger in Southern California than anywhere else.

 

Texas & Florida have the natural forage in their lakes to grow big NLMB's, but do experience some extremes in weather that can slow down the growth or stress the fish to shorten its life.  other than that, they are tops.

 

In my opinion, the easiest place to go to catch a bass over 10lbs (either NLMB or FLMB) in the USA is Florida.  However, the best place to go to catch a bass over 7 lbs is Texas.  You'll notice that most years on the Elite series, the largest bass of the year gets caught in Florida, but the biggest 4 day totals come from Texas.  The toughest place of the 3 to catch a 10lb bass is California, but there is a good chance that if you do, it will be the largest.

[Boomstick]

Funny, I read the title and I was going to say imo bass fishing's greatest record might be that 15lb 8oz largemouth that is the MA state record, which will never be broken.

[OCdockskipper]

As an aside, why do some groups of people believe that everything that happens where they live is the greatest ever?  You see a lot of it in Boston and San Francisco (and to a greater extent Massachusetts and California) when it comes to the historical aspects of their cities/states or the success of their sports teams.  Quite a bit of bloviating about anything that involves them.

 

Everyone has civic pride and everyplace has something that makes them unique, but there are a few cities & states in the country whose residents are more than willing to publicly claim how much better their city or state is than anywhere else.  It shows a real lack of humility and perspective and seems to be more prevalent on the coasts.

 

The irony is that most of the folks who claim such things often no longer live there.  They moved away from the "greatest city" or left the "best state" for greener pastures, yet continue to tout its supposed superiority.  All very odd.

 

Bringing the subject back to bass fishing, I would suggest that a 15lb bass caught in Massachusetts is in no way the "greatest catch" when you compare it to Dottie, a bass that grew nearly 15% larger than any other bass ever caught and avoided being caught outside of the spawn even though she lived in a tiny 69 acre lake.

[jbsoonerfan]

27 minutes ago, OCdockskipper said:

As an aside, why do some groups of people believe that everything that happens where they live is the greatest ever?  You see a lot of it in Boston and San Francisco (and to a greater extent Massachusetts and California) when it comes to the historical aspects of their cities/states or the success of their sports teams.  Quite a bit of bloviating about anything that involves them.

 

Everyone has civic pride and everyplace has something that makes them unique, but there are a few cities & states in the country whose residents are more than willing to publicly claim how much better their city or state is than anywhere else.  It shows a real lack of humility and perspective and seems to be more prevalent on the coasts.

 

The irony is that most of the folks who claim such things often no longer live there.  They moved away from the "greatest city" or left the "best state" for greener pastures, yet continue to tout its supposed superiority.  All very odd.

 

Bringing the subject back to bass fishing, I would suggest that a 15lb bass caught in Massachusetts is in no way the "greatest catch" when you compare it to Dottie, a bass that grew nearly 15% larger than any other bass ever caught and avoided being caught outside of the spawn even though she lived in a tiny 69 acre lake.

They "claimed" Tom Brady was the greatest ever, then he went to Florida and PROVED he was the greatest ever.

[Bass Junke]

On 3/28/2021 at 11:28 PM, OCdockskipper said:

As an aside, why do some groups of people believe that everything that happens where they live is the greatest ever?  You see a lot of it in Boston and San Francisco (and to a greater extent Massachusetts and California) when it comes to the historical aspects of their cities/states or the success of their sports teams.  Quite a bit of bloviating about anything that involves them.

 

Everyone has civic pride and everyplace has something that makes them unique, but there are a few cities & states in the country whose residents are more than willing to publicly claim how much better their city or state is than anywhere else.  It shows a real lack of humility and perspective and seems to be more prevalent on the coasts.

 

The irony is that most of the folks who claim such things often no longer live there.  They moved away from the "greatest city" or left the "best state" for greener pastures, yet continue to tout its supposed superiority.  All very odd.

 

Bringing the subject back to bass fishing, I would suggest that a 15lb bass caught in Massachusetts is in no way the "greatest catch" when you compare it to Dottie, a bass that grew nearly 15% larger than any other bass ever caught and avoided being caught outside of the spawn even though she lived in a tiny 69 acre lake.

Without a doubt Dottie was the greatest fish ever caught, but it isn't a record, sorry. 

Once again I am not trying to hype up Massachusetts, believe me, there is nothing to see here. Let's forget about Bryan's fish also. It was not supposed to be a debate on the true weight of his fish. We have all read endless post about how I have a picture but I didn't weight it. How much does it weigh? Bottom line, can't tell from a photo. 

 

Can we all agree that the state record is legit? What this was really supposed to be about is, why hasn't a larger northern been caught in a state that has a more optimal habitat? I asked earlier what made her grow so large. Forage, age, genetics, all of the above? The more I think about it the more I lean to genetics. She was just a total freak of nature. 

 

The only other factor I can think of would be pressure. Massachusetts isn't the fishing capitol of the world, don't think it ever will be. They just don't get caught as much. Don't see as many lures swimming by them. 

[J Francho]

If you plot out the huge fish catches in the Northeast, you'll see there's "corridor" that goes right through Mass.  It also corresponds with herring range and them being the primary food source.  Herring fed bass get big.

[Boomstick]

On 3/28/2021 at 11:28 PM, OCdockskipper said:

As an aside, why do some groups of people believe that everything that happens where they live is the greatest ever?  You see a lot of it in Boston and San Francisco (and to a greater extent Massachusetts and California) when it comes to the historical aspects of their cities/states or the success of their sports teams.  Quite a bit of bloviating about anything that involves them.

 

You seem to completely misunderstand the significance of this catch. Look at neighboring states records. 

 

New Hampshire: 10lb 8 oz.

Vermont: 10lb 4 oz.

Connecticut: 12lbs 4oz

Rhode Island: 11lbs 3oz

Maine: 11lbs 10oz.

New York: 11lbs 4oz

 

The MA state record is literally 26.5% larger than any other state in the northeast. If I was trophy hunting, I would go to any neighboring state.

 

Maybe Dottie wins out, but there's not many other records that will likely stand the test of time.

[J Francho]

1 minute ago, Boomstick said:

Maybe Dottie wins out, but there's not many other records that will likely stand the test of time.

Pretty sure the NY record won't be beaten.  The circumstances around it are way too sketchy, and the fact that it wasn't caught on public water makes me want to discount it altogether.

[Bass Junke]

1 hour ago, J Francho said:

If you plot out the huge fish catches in the Northeast, you'll see there's "corridor" that goes right through Mass.  It also corresponds with herring range and them being the primary food source.  Herring fed bass get big.

Wow! Thank you that is an interesting puzzle piece. 

[Boomstick]

1 hour ago, J Francho said:

If you plot out the huge fish catches in the Northeast, you'll see there's "corridor" that goes right through Mass.  It also corresponds with herring range and them being the primary food source.  Herring fed bass get big.

While MA is in the Herring range, it seems that herring are far more common in the lakes and ponds in CT overall.

 

As for the Mass record, I don't think Sampson Pond even has herring, although it's probable that it did years ago when the 15 pounder was caught.

[Bass Junke]

1 minute ago, Boomstick said:

While MA is in the Herring range, it seems that herring are far more common in the lakes and ponds in CT overall.

 

As for the Mass record, I don't think Sampson Pond even has herring, although it's probable that it did years ago when the 15 pounder was caught.

Thanks Boomstick. Not sure how much of the articles you read but did you happen to read the part where he swore to the location of his catch on his death bed? I know there has been rumors that he did not give an accurate location back in 75. 

 

When I was looking into the state record, I came across some other notable catches in Mass. That article stated that another DD bass came from Sampson Pond. Just briefly looked for it again.

[J Francho]

15 minutes ago, Boomstick said:

While MA is in the Herring range, it seems that herring are far more common in the lakes and ponds in CT overall.

 

As for the Mass record, I don't think Sampson Pond even has herring, although it's probable that it did years ago when the 15 pounder was caught.

My point is that there is swath of records all in double digits surrounded by single digit records.  The forage is one (albeit a big one) component of growing big fish.  Records are always freakish, and there's always some extenuating circumstance that contributes to that freakish size.  But, the fact exists that there is a high protein source for a geographic region, which helps explains the large fish in the region.

[MassYak85]

24 minutes ago, Boomstick said:

While MA is in the Herring range, it seems that herring are far more common in the lakes and ponds in CT overall.

 

As for the Mass record, I don't think Sampson Pond even has herring, although it's probable that it did years ago when the 15 pounder was caught.

I've heard rumors the fish wasn't actually caught at Sampson. The place it's rumored to have come from does have a Herring run though.

[Boomstick]

24 minutes ago, MassYak85 said:

I've heard rumors the fish wasn't actually caught at Sampson. The place it's rumored to have come from does have a Herring run though.

Interesting. Someone didn't want to give up their fishing spot?

[Bass Junke]

29 minutes ago, MassYak85 said:

I've heard rumors the fish wasn't actually caught at Sampson. The place it's rumored to have come from does have a Herring run though.

Said he didn't lie about the location just before his death. 

Funny. The outdoor life article is nowhere to be found. That is where he said he did not lie about where it was caught.

[Deleted account]

On 3/19/2021 at 2:49 PM, Dwight Hottle said:

Come to think about it I have never seen or heard/read of a bass having a 30" girth. 

I had a 30" girth in High School.