Bass Record equals Million Dollars? your thoughts?

[resqd1]

So have any of you heard the tale that " if you caught the record largemouth, it would be worth a million dollars?"

I have heard this tons and tons of times from all sorts of fisherman.

Taking into consideration I wonder what that million would be today? 2 Mill, 3 Mill.......

Ok So here is the question and food for thought, if you have heard this before, tell me your thoughts on it and its validity.

Where does the money come from? Sponsors? Commercials? Where?

How does one get it out there?

This has all arised from a new California State Record Striper That was caught this past month and the idiot weighed it, then ate it, and the scale wasnt certified by fish and game, so now his 70 Pounder will not be the new record.

So where are certified scales?

How do you make sure your 26 pound Large Gets in the record books when you catch it? Make sure you are fishing with a rod and reel from a company that has money hahhahaha?

Thanks for taking the time, I am really interested to see what others have to say.

If you want to see the article about the striper, it is in Aug 15th WON Weekly Paper.  His 70.06 would have been the state record and the land Locked IGFA record.

[Raul]

So where are certified scales?

Everyhwere you find certified scales, your local supermarket or grocery store has several certified scales.

When IGFA says certified scale doen 't mean it has to be certified by them, it means that the scale in which the fish is weighted has to be certified by whomever authority is in charge of accurately take the weights and measurements. All scales used for the sale of products by weight has to be certified, all of them are verified and inspected several times a year and stamped to prove their accuracy, otherwise it 's illegal to use them.

[resqd1]

good info, lets hear some more

[Daniel My Brother]

So have any of you heard the tale that " if you caught the record largemouth, it would be worth a million dollars?"

There was once an organization that offered a million dollar prize if one of its members caught the world record bass. You had to pay dues to be eligible to win the million. That organization no longer exists.

Without that prize, I have no idea how to turn a fish into a million dollars, but I'm sure someone will try.

The current world record won George Perry about $75 from Field & Stream and a lifetime of being called a liar.

Not worth it.

[Raul]

As from where the money comes from, in some cases there may be a price in cash ( in Mexico the State of Tamaulipas offers 1 million dollars in cash to whomever catches the WR in any of these two lakes: Guerrero or Sugar ), in other cases the money may flow from tackle manufacturing companies.

Let 's say that I catch the WR fishing a Shimano reel, a GLoomis rod, Berkley line and a Rapala lure. That makes at least 4 manufacturers ( Shimano, GLoomis, Berkley, Rapala plus VMC hooks ) willing to pay me to put my ugly face endorsing their products cuz the moment I caught the fish I became a celebrity. Now let 's add even more, the day I caught the fish I was wearing Costa del Mar sunglasses, a Columbia fishing shirt, Levi 's trousers and Nike sneakers, I was fishing from a Ranger boat which has a Minnkota TM and a Johnson outboard, my lures are packed into Plano boxes, I purchased my lures, rod, line and reel at BPS so the list of manufacturers and /or dealers grows. That 's where the money comes from.

[Uncle Leo]

As from where the money comes from, in some cases there may be a price in cash ( in Mexico the State of Tamaulipas offers 1 million dollars in cash to whomever catches the WR in any of these two lakes: Guerrero or Sugar ), in other cases the money may flow from tackle manufacturing companies.

Let 's say that I catch the WR fishing a Shimano reel, a GLoomis rod, Berkley line and a Rapala lure. That makes at least 4 manufacturers ( Shimano, GLoomis, Berkley, Rapala plus VMC hooks ) willing to pay me to put my ugly face endorsing their products cuz the moment I caught the fish I became a celebrity. Now let 's add even more, the day I caught the fish I was wearing Costa del Mar sunglasses, a Columbia fishing shirt, Levi 's trousers and Nike sneakers, I was fishing from a Ranger boat which has a Minnkota TM and a Johnson outboard, my lures are packed into Plano boxes, I purchased my lures, rod, line and reel at BPS so the list of manufacturers and /or dealers grows. That 's where the money comes from.

I absolutely agree with this. If you market yourself right it could be worth more then $ 1M.

[resqd1]

So dont be wearing no name sweats, bare foot, with a crawdad on the end of a piece of string tied to a branch when you catch it, or you are out of luck huh, hahahahaha LOL

[Raul]

So dont be wearing no name sweats, bare foot, with a crawdad on the end of a piece of string tied to a branch when you catch it, or you are out of luck huh, hahahahaha LOL

Unless you caught it with your bare hands you still had to use a hook didn 't you ? and that hook was manufactured by someone, same applies to the string  

[Uncle Leo]

So dont be wearing no name sweats, bare foot, with a crawdad on the end of a piece of string tied to a branch when you catch it, or you are out of luck huh, hahahahaha LOL

Unless you caught it with your bare hands you still had to use a hook didn 't you ? and that hook was manufactured by someone, same applies to the string

Now that's marketing I like it!!!!!

[Newman12Fan]

I bet if you did catch it with your hands you could write a book and get a movie deal - still making $1M.  That would be an interesting story for sure!

[thetr20one]

I would think the WR would be worth multiple mils. The Beatty buck from Greene county Ohio was the world record non-typical for a few years. I heard he got $5000 per event to show his mount at hunting expos. Not to mention endorsements. The WR largemouth is much more sought after making it an even bigger prize. Meaning bigger money. I have won a couple tourneys and when asked what I was catching em on, I replied I am not being paid so I will just say I caught generic baits even though they were very much name brand. I am not sponsored at this time (I have had a more than a few offers) so I don't have a real responsibility to tell 160 people my winning pattern. When I do get some sponsors I will yap em up!!!!!!

[Eddie Munster]

Would you get the million(s) in one lump sum? Probably not. But unless you're a complete fool, there should be no reason you'd have to worry about tackle for the rest of your life.

Say you catch it on a Zoom worm; well I buy alot of plastics at Wally World, Dicks and BPS. Guessing whoever came in with the highest offer would be where I remember buying those worms at. Not to mention Zoom will make sure you never need worms and probably give you $$ as well.

[DaveHawkins]

I often wondered what would keep someone, most likely a biologist, from growing a world record bass in a controlled environment.  With science as advanced as it it today, I bet they could even come up with a food source injected with growth hormones that would make a bass grow exponentially.  

How many years do you think it would generally take a bass to grow big enough to be a WR?

[bmuskin]

I was stuck in Charlotte a while back and picked up a book called Sow belly and it went into detail on the world record bass. It was not a bad read and was in one of those discount book stores for 3-4 dollars. It talked about the lure makers of custom swimbaits and even a guy in Mississippi who is trying to raise the new world record bass in his ponds. It also detailed where the money would come from.

[bmuskin]

Sowbelly: the Obsessive Quest for the World Record Largemouth Bass

by Monte Burke

I saw this book for as low as $2.00 online.

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

I often wondered what would keep someone, most likely a biologist, from growing a world record bass in a controlled environment. With science as advanced as it it today, I bet they could even come up with a food source injected with growth hormones that would make a bass grow exponentially.

How many years do you think it would generally take a bass to grow big enough to be a WR?

It's not as easy as you think. All WR fish get subjected to a wide regimen of testing. The fish is autopsied and they can even tell what Ph it lived in. It better be the same as the Ph in the body you said you caught it in. Just an example, fraud is no joke when you are talking about this may zero's on a possible payout.

A WR is a mark of integrity, cheaters will be subject to the wrath of Karma!!!

Back to the original question, if you already have sponsors, there may be "record" clauses in your contract. Anyone fishing for a living should have these clauses included in ALL contracts.

[resqd1]

2 bucks where?

[WRB]

Back in the 1990's there was a bass fishing magazine that offered it's subscribers/members a million dollars for a new world record bass and held a tournament at the end of each season for the top 10 bass each year with a cash prise.

When the Lloyds of London insured bond was cancelled, the garanteed million dollar world record bass offered was cancelled.

Anyone today will need to have a good marketing skills to make a million dollars in endosements, if they catch a world record bass, IMO.

WRB

[DaveHawkins]

I often wondered what would keep someone, most likely a biologist, from growing a world record bass in a controlled environment.  With science as advanced as it it today, I bet they could even come up with a food source injected with growth hormones that would make a bass grow exponentially.  

How many years do you think it would generally take a bass to grow big enough to be a WR?

It's not as easy as you think.  All WR fish get subjected to a wide regimen of testing.  The fish is autopsied and they can even tell what Ph it lived in.  It better be the same as the Ph in the body you said you caught it in.  Just an example, fraud is no joke when you are talking about this may zero's on a possible payout.

A WR is a mark of integrity, cheaters will be subject to the wrath of Karma!!!

Back to the original question, if you already have sponsors, there may be "record" clauses in your contract.  Anyone fishing for a living should have these clauses included in ALL contracts.

I wouldn't think it would be easy.  I think you took my point of context.  Nowhere in my post did I mention deception or dishonesty...I was simply pondering the ability to grow a WR size bass using scientific technology.  There would be no reason to not claim it for what it was...a homegrown big WR bass.  

[done]

Heck if someone would try to pass a rubber suit off as bigfoot for some cash. I would bet someone would try to pass a homegrown WR off as wild so they would hit up the aforementioned sponsors.

Makes them sound much better  when you talk of bringing your ranger boat into a cove on Lake Wylie, using your BP rod/real combo and x bait. That is something they can really sell.

[avid]

Anyone today will need to have a good marketing skills to make a million dollars in endosements,

I think the above statement is very true.

There is no doubt in my mind that the person who catches the new world record will make money off of the fish, but someone with good marketing skills, and more importantly perhaps, good negotiating skills will make alot more than someone without.  A million bucks?  yeah, I think the right guy, using the right equipment, (big endorsers) with the right agent, say Ray Scott? could parlay this fish into a million or more.  It's THAT big a deal IMHO.

[shorefisher]

A WR is a mark of integrity, cheaters will be subject to the wrath of Karma!!!

I agree and found it very interesting that the recent world record bass was submitted as foul-hooked, there was no attempt at deception. I applaud this whole-heartedly and would do it the same way myself.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/outdoors/20060320-1251-bn20bass.html

Those guys spent almost every day trying to catch old "dottie" validly until she died this year after spawn.

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/fishing/news/story?page=world_record_bass_dies

[Certified Public Angler]

So have any of you heard the tale that " if you caught the record largemouth, it would be worth a million dollars?"

There was once an organization that offered a million dollar prize if one of its members caught the world record bass. You had to pay dues to be eligible to win the million. That organization no longer exists.

Without that prize, I have no idea how to turn a fish into a million dollars, but I'm sure someone will try.

The current world record won George Perry about $75 from Field & Stream and a lifetime of being called a liar.

Not worth it.

What is the story on Perry being a liar?

[Lambo6]

Question is ,,,,, Is there a world record bass still out there ?

[Certified Public Angler]

I say there has to be.

Off topic: Is it possible for gators to eat a lethargic large bass? What do you think?  dangit I hate gators, btw