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Posts: 1275
Location: Hayward, Wisconsin | Evidently muskie anglers aren't the only ones having a problem with getting potential state and world record fish certified even after weighing them. This is from the "Outdoor Hub":
"Fishing News
Potential World Record Spotted Bass Released in California
By: Daniel Xu +
Posted: 11/30/15
A professional angler in California may have caught the world’s largest spotted bass, but the record may have quite literally slipped through his fingers.
Paul Bailey was fishing with Matt Newman in an unnamed California lake recently when he caught a large 11-pound, four-ounce spotted bass. Since the two anglers were filming a promo for the show Stoked on Fishing, the fight with the possible-record fish was caught entirely on tape.
Unfortunately for the pair, everything went downhill after that. Shortly after the fish was weighed and the records consulted, the anglers made a call to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife to get the bass certified. Newman and Bailey later told Wired2Fish that wildlife officials were unable to send anyone out to investigate their catch. When the anglers offered to drive the fish to a Fish and Wildlife office, the department said that was impossible. After several hours of exploring every option available to them, Newman and Bailey decided to release the bass before it became too stressed.
“We didn’t want to kill the fish and wait until tomorrow to for someone to weigh it,” Newman said. “We were so stoked to have caught the fish on film, including weighing it on three seperate scales. So we decided to let it go and hope for the best. We’re not sure what will happen from here, but we’re still stoked.”
If the weight of 11 pounds and four ounces was accurate, Bailey’s bass would have exceeded both the current California state record and the world record recognized by the International Game Fish Association (IGFA). California’s record was broken earlier this year with a 10.38-pound fish from New Bullards Bar Reservoir, a very popular place for spotted bass fishing. The current world record belongs to a 10.48-pound spotted bass from California’s New Melones Reservoir that was caught in 2014 by Keith Bryan, the president of Powell Rods. At the time, Bryan said that he expected his own record to be broken soon due to the popularity—and mammoth size—of spotted bass in his state.
'As great a spotted bass fishery as the state of California has become, I’m certain that this record will fall again soon,' he said. 'But, to have held this record for even one day is a dream, and an accomplishment that any angler should be proud of; it is something that I can say for the rest of my life, that I caught a World Record spotted bass. This has truly been a dream come true.'
For Bailey, this accomplishment may remain an unofficial world record. To qualify under IGFA rules, the fish must be weighed on a certified scale with witnesses. Neither Bailey or Newman confirmed whether any of the scales they used were certified.
The rule may be easy to remember, but it can be difficult to track down a certified scale depending on where you are. Earlier this year a tournament angler fishing in Bullards Bar Reservoir left the competition and drove two hours away before he could weigh his 11-pound, 3.2-ounce spotted bass. That fish is currently under consideration by IGFA for the world record.
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Posts: 242
| When I was younger, I was all into reading about the State and World records for all species of fish. Now that I have matured a little, I care less about a record and more about the preservation of fisheries. Just knowing a fish caught was a certain size means more to me than knowing it was certified properly (and killed). I still think of Dottie as being the biggest Largemouth Bass ever caught (at 25+ pounds) even though the hook was outside of the fishes mouth and not in, as dictated by California law and thus disqualified for consideration as a World Record. |
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Posts: 859
Location: MN | Newer generations care less and less about "World Records" because they realize it has no reflection on who's caught the biggest fish ect because it's more about who clubbed a fish and managed to jump through hoops and red tape to get there name on a piece of paper. Hey if that's your thing that's great do it as long as you follow fishing laws in your state. |
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Posts: 32784
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | I club fish just to eat them. Horrifying. |
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Posts: 3518
Location: north central wisconsin | Larry Ramsell - 12/1/2015 8:14 AM
California’s record was broken earlier this year with a 10.38-pound fish from New Bullards Bar Reservoir, a very popular place for spotted bass fishing. The current world record belongs to a 10.48-pound spotted bass from California’s New Melones Reservoir that was caught in 2014 by Keith Bryan, the president of Powell Rods.
I always argued that California wasn't in the real world... |
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Posts: 859
Location: MN | I don't think is horrifying at all. Keep a fish or don't it's a personal choice. my point is things are changing and with CPR a huge part of the Muskie fishing the record systems haven't caught up. |
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Posts: 1080
Location: Aurora | Clubbing also tenderizes um a bit which the older meat often needs to be palatable. |
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