The true world record

[MN Fisher]

Minnesota makes it easy - no snagging of ANY fish.

 

Minnesota Statutes

97C.331 SNAGGING FISH PROHIBITED.

Subdivision 1.General prohibition.

A person may not:

(1) intentionally take fish by snagging; or

(2) use a snag line, snag pole, snag hook, or cluster of fish hooks, designed to be placed in or drawn through the water to hook the body of a fish.

Subd. 2.Lake Superior tributaries.

On tributaries to Lake Superior below the posted boundaries, and on tributaries to Lake Superior with no posted boundaries, a fish that is hooked in any part of the body except in the mouth must be immediately unhooked and returned to the water.

[flyfisher]

On 6/5/2022 at 2:51 PM, ironbjorn said:

Actually it's not easy to discount the biggest largemouth ever caught by an angler who was fishing legitimately and caught the bass the same way all of us catch bass sometimes. I personally don't care what the pencil pushers have to say, never asked them anyways. 

It is when it comes to the defintion of what constitutes a world record.  If people don't like it then they need to go ahead and make another governing body to serve as the holder for all the fishing world records or get the rules changed as to what makes a record a record.  If none of that happens, it is easy in this case to know it was not a world record.

[WRB]

Not only is Dottie not a world Record she isn’t the of California record. Bob Crupi’s 22.10 lb LMB isn’t the State of California record because the catch wasn’t officially weighed, examined and validated.

None of my bass were “officially” validated, to do the regulation the bass can’t be released until a DFW official comes to the lake, we can’t transport a live bass away from the lake unless it’s on ice...ie dead.

Tom

 

[geo g]

Dottie and the other California giants are an interesting subject. They are not native to the area, where put in relatively small size  lakes, and then feed on a regular basis trout that were stocked in these lakes.  Easy targets for the bass population, and big time nourishment.  Since the stocking programs have changed, how have catch sizes changed over the last few years.  There is little natural about the whole process of producing a Dottie!  It was science at its best, fun to catch, but not Mother Nature’s creation!  

[WRB]

No genetic engineering going on with FLMB planted originally in California 1959, definitely mother natures creation.

Pure Florida strain LMB can only survive in water above 45 degrees limiting distribution.

Lake Hodges produced a 20.4 FLMB without any trout population, only Threadfin Shad, crappie, bluegill,  channel catfish and crawdads.

What has changed Is over 60 years of intergrading with NLMB in the lakes weaken the vigor of FLMB now in California lakes, no pure FLMB.

Florida Golden Shiners have the same protein as trout and easy meal for bass.

What is over looked is FLMB live 50% longer in our small deep cool water climate.

Tom 

 

[IcatchDinks]

Define world record. Biggest bass ever caught? (That we know of) Yes. Biggest bass ever caught within the rules of sport fishing (as laid out by the universally recognized IGFA) and in compliance with state laws? No. 

 

But, it counts for me, and I don't need any official stamp next to it. 

Define world record. Biggest bass ever caught? (That we know of) Yes. Biggest bass ever caught within the rules of sport fishing (as laid out by the universally recognized IGFA) and in compliance with state laws? No. 

 

But, it counts for me, and I don't need any official stamp next to it. 

[ACGOG]

Edit: I got my information wrong about Dottie. It was pointed out she died a few years after this. In the Instagram video he very clearly says she was found dead a few weeks later.

 

Man, worst thing about this story is hearing that Dottie died. I remember hearing stories about her getting caught a few times before.

 

Might just be age, but I'm sure holding a 25lb bass with a single hand by the lip a week or two prior had nothing to do with it... ?

 

Sad.

 

[J Francho]

12 minutes ago, ACGOG said:

Man, worst thing about this story is hearing that Dottie died. I remember hearing stories about her getting caught a few times before.

 

Might just be age, but I'm sure holding a 25lb bass with a single hand by the lip a week or two prior had nothing to do with it... ?

 

Sad.

 

Side-note, if you haven't read it, this article about Mike Long by Kellen Ellis is absolutely fascinating. It completely destroyed - and rightfully so - Long's career.

https://sdfish.com/general/dark-secret-americas-big-bass-guru-mike-long/

 

Get your facts straight.  Dottie died MORE THAN TWO YEARS after Mac caught her.  Clearly his handling had nothing to do with her death.  I'm not sure what point you're making bringing the ML story into this.  It's totally irrelevant.  In my opinion, he deserves no press.

[MN Fisher]

2 minutes ago, J Francho said:

In my opinion, he deserves no press.

John...shut it down before ML takes over...again.

 

Please....

[ACGOG]

13 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Get your facts straight.  Dottie died MORE THAN TWO YEARS after Mac caught her.  Clearly his handling had nothing to do with her death.  I'm not sure what point you're making bringing the ML story into this.  It's totally irrelevant.  In my opinion, he deserves no press.

 

That Instagram post was from two weeks ago? It says he caught her then two weeks later she died? What am I missing? I'll absolutely amend/delete my post if I'm not getting my facts straight.

 

I also removed the ML article per your statement. I just thought it was very interesting, didn't know it was controversial since it'd already been brought up.

[MN Fisher]

3 minutes ago, ACGOG said:

That Instagram post was from two weeks ago? It says he caught her then two weeks later she died? What am I missing? I'll absolutely amend/delete my post if I'm not getting my facts straight.

Dottie is an old story.

This article tells about how Mac caught her in 2006...then the report in 2008 that Dottie had died.

https://bassfishingfacts.com/world-record-chaser-the-story-of-dottie-the-25-pound-largemouth-bass/

[ACGOG]

3 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

Dottie is an old story.

This article tells about how Mac caught her in 2006...then the report in 2008 that Dottie had died.

https://bassfishingfacts.com/world-record-chaser-the-story-of-dottie-the-25-pound-largemouth-bass/

 

Got it. I was basing my statement off of the Instagram post information that said she died a few weeks later.

 

I'll edit my post.

[J Francho]

She was caught in March of 2006.  She was found dead on Mother's Day 2008.

https://www.espn.com/outdoors/fishing/news/story?page=world_record_bass_dies  

2 minutes ago, ACGOG said:

Instagram post

I'm literally lol at this.

[ACGOG]

13 minutes ago, J Francho said:

She was caught in March of 2006.  She was found dead on Mother's Day 2008.

https://www.espn.com/outdoors/fishing/news/story?page=world_record_bass_dies  

I'm literally lol at this.

 

That's what was linked in the original post.

 

I'm just going to jetpack out of this since I don't know a lot of the context and nuances of this stuff, but interesting conversation nonetheless.

[volzfan59]

This is all pretty cut and dry, black and white for me. The "true world record" largemouth bass is the one that the IGFA certifies.

[J Francho]

So there's three fish here: Perry's, Dottie, and the Lake Biwa fish.  I have my doubts about the legitimacy of the Perry fish.  Dottie was clearly the largest documented largemouth bass on the planet.  The most legitimate current IGFA record to me is the Lake Biwa fish.

[flyfisher]

On 6/7/2022 at 2:23 PM, geo g said:

Dottie and the other California giants are an interesting subject. They are not native to the area, where put in relatively small size  lakes, and then feed on a regular basis trout that were stocked in these lakes.  Easy targets for the bass population, and big time nourishment.  Since the stocking programs have changed, how have catch sizes changed over the last few years.  There is little natural about the whole process of producing a Dottie!  It was science at its best, fun to catch, but not Mother Nature’s creation!  

so by your definition I'd be curious as to what would constitute a world record.  Would the fish have to be a native to the area and not stocked at some point?  The largemouth is only native to a few areas really.  

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, ACGOG said:

Edit: I got my information wrong about Dottie. It was pointed out she died a few years after this. In the Instagram video he very clearly says she was found dead a few weeks later.

 

Man, worst thing about this story is hearing that Dottie died. I remember hearing stories about her getting caught a few times before.

 

Might just be age, but I'm sure holding a 25lb bass with a single hand by the lip a week or two prior had nothing to do with it... ?

 

Sad.

 

They don’t live forever , probably near the end at 25 lbs no matter how ya hold (or snag) it 

[geo g]

1 hour ago, flyfisher said:

so by your definition I'd be curious as to what would constitute a world record.  Would the fish have to be a native to the area and not stocked at some point?  The largemouth is only native to a few areas really.  

 

 

How about bass that are periodically feed easy pray which certainly is beneficial to their development?  Then are bass from breeding farms allowed?  I would expect not!  Bass would have to hunt and catch natural pray without the help of government, or outside sources.  The Georgia bass was certainly in that category!

[J Francho]

9 minutes ago, geo g said:

 

 

How about bass that are periodically feed easy pray which certainly is beneficial to their development?  Then are bass from breeding farms allowed?  I would expect not!  Bass would have to hunt and catch natural pray without the help of government, or outside sources.  The Georgia bass was certainly in that category!

Behind every record fish, there's some interesting circumstances.  For instance, the world record rainbow trout (44 lbs.) was a genetically modified triploid fish that was sterile and therefore spent it's entire life eating and growing, never making a spawning run.  An angler legally caught it fishing, and it's the largest specimen of that species ever.  By your definition, it doesn't count?  Records are set by the angler.  As long as it is caught on public water, I say it counts.  Interesting and related tidbit: the NY state record largemouth was NOT caught on public waters.  Hmmmmm.

[hunterPRO1]

if anything, that pic was proof that properly holding a bass by just the lip without putting angle in the jaw doesn't hurt them.

 

even when she died, she didn't look malnourished, as evidenced by the pic at the bottom of this article. World Record Chasers | The Story of “Dottie” the 25 pound Largemouth Bass – Bass Fishing Facts

 

that fish died of old age.

[flyfisher]

2 hours ago, geo g said:

 

 

How about bass that are periodically feed easy pray which certainly is beneficial to their development?  Then are bass from breeding farms allowed?  I would expect not!  Bass would have to hunt and catch natural pray without the help of government, or outside sources.  The Georgia bass was certainly in that category!

So any fish caught outside its native range would not be eligible for a record.  

[soflabasser]

On 6/5/2022 at 8:50 PM, uno said:

Dotty didn't bite his jig. He was sight fishing, fish put her mouth toward the jig but didn't bite. He thought she had it and set, but the jig was never in her mouth. You cannot legally catch a fish that doesn't bite your lure. Stop talking about jerkbaits and such. This was a single hook jig. If you hook a fish outside the mouth on a jig, the fish did not have the jig in its mouth when you set.

I agree. Catching fish outside the mouth with jerkbaits is common since these lures usually have 6 or more hooks on them, unlike bass fishing jigs which usually only have 1 hook.

[clh121787]

On 6/5/2022 at 8:50 PM, uno said:

Let's be honest. Dotty didn't bite his jig. He was sight fishing, fish put her mouth toward the jig but didn't bite. He thought she had it and set, but the jig was never in her mouth. You cannot legally catch a fish that doesn't bite your lure. Stop talking about jerkbaits and such. This was a single hook jig. If you hook a fish outside the mouth on a jig, the fish did not have the jig in its mouth when you set. This isn't hunting. You have to make the fish bite for it to count.

I disagree 100%. Respectively. Not very often. but a few times a year on a fb jig offshore. I’ll feel a bite and catch a bass hooked outside through the cheek. It happened again this spring and off a bed ! for the first time.  Felt the bite  Line moved  Swung and  Landed her. Hooked in the cheek. #8.14 big. Didn’t feel bad even a little bit. What happens is she bit the front half of the jig. Head in the mouth hook and skirt outside was angled just right And got lucky.  Not legal for a tournament but it counts for a catch in my book.  Dottie is my world record and Emma Weyant won that race. I don’t care what the record books say. 
 

[Bankc]

To me, this kind of record is held by the fish, not the angler.  Sure, there's some skill involved with catching a record fish, just like any fish.  But there's also a whole lot of luck, indicated by the names at the tops of these lists (several are not serious anglers).  And it requires access to a body of water that holds a record fish, something most of us do not have.  

 

If you want to give the record to a person, I think a more deserving recipient would be the people who managed the water that allowed a fish to grow to record size.  Having a bunch of poorly managed lakes near me, I can't stress the importance of that enough.