Capt. G here,
Sorry to have kept you waiting on the remaining details of the giant Japan Type 2 Hybrid Largemouth Black Bass.

It is now 11:30 pm, and I have the official info that will be released in tomorrow's news.

Mr. Kurita caught the giant fish as described in my previous posts at Lake Biwa, Shiga Prefecture Japan. Certified weight 10.12 kilos.
Biwako (Biwa Lake) is divided into two large parts--the northern part, which is very clear, rocky and extremely deep, and the southern, or "Nanko"section, which is mostly shallow (less than 30 feet), and surrounded by tulies/reeds. The fish was caught in the Nanko section.
The fish was caught on live bait--specifically a Japanese Koi (carp) on a Deps rod using 25 lb. line.
One thing to note, and we have all experienced this (or worse!) is that as the fish was netted, with a bass hand landing net, the hook pulled loose!
As I mentioned, and will not get into here, it is illegal for most anglers to catch and release bass at Biwako.
That said, Mr. Kurita kept the bass in is livewell, as Mr. Okamura of Deps was contacting the Biwa Lake aquarium, and other research institutes. As I mentioned, due to the difficulties of catch and release, as well as transporting live fish laws and regulations, they did not want to release this info until they were in compliance with all regulations (they were). Being an old, tired girl, the fish soon died in the livewell that evening.

The fish is now properly frozen to preserve the fish, while documents are being reviewed for and submitted to various record keeping agencies.

I just feel fortunate to have been an extremely small link in the info chain, and also fortunate that I could share this will all my friends here on Calfishing.

Capt. out!:-)

I enjoyed this story, cause I dont believe in the perry record,
but as soon as i saw "live bait" my interest is gone. LAME

bah... Glad that it was more than 22.4 even though it was on live bait. At least it wasn't a bedfish. Congrats to the angler. I hope that he takes advantage of the opportunity to the best of his ability. I sure wish it was another ounce heavier though.

Thanks for the information Greg.

Capt. G, you've done a fabulous job managing the information and sharing it with us all: THANK YOU.

I'm super pumped for Mr. Kurita, and the Japanese angling community. They have got to be celebrating over there. Hope the sake is flowing.

The thing that matters to me is that it was caught legally. Live bait or not. He appears to be an extremely committed trophy hunter, and that speaks volumes to me. This was no accident. He played within the rules of the lake and local jurisdiction...

Rock on Manabu Kurita and good luck with the IGFA ruling. I'm pulling for ya.

Agree with Matt here on all points. Thanks Greg for the inside info! Really very much appreciated.

The fish (so far) seems to have been well documented and was caught by a dedicated trophy bass fisherman, not some random barni. This is about all I could ever ask for in a world record catch.

So on average I am very pleased with they circumstances. Bass are no less native to Japan as they are to California, so it seems equally fair for the WR to come from over there.

Live bait? Whatever it takes. I don't personally use it, but if I saw a 22 lber that wouldn't eat artificials I'd probably think about it.

I still haven't decided if I will consider this fish a tie or the new record. On the one hand I have significant doubt about the legitimacy of the first record. On the other hand the new fish appears to be less than one ounce larger, and even that's going by the rather dubious assumption that the old can be said to be 25.25000 lbs. I'm still bothered by various websites rounding up this fish's weight to 5 ounces. Bleh.

Tie or not, if everything checks out this fish will be the new mark to beat. And that's what a record comes down to :)

Greg -

Thank you for keeping us up to date on this amazing catch.

Tim

Yes, Capt. G. Thanks for the information. You did a great job in posting here on calfishing and getting us some solid details on this fish.


The live bait thing is pretty lame. Some of us have heavy opinions on live bait. The positive thing that I can focus on is the fact that the lake evidently raises 20 lb largemouth bass PERIOD! That is SICK. A netted 25 lber. A 19 lber caught a few years ago. That is freaking awesome to know that a lake has is so huge and has multiple 20 lbers one can only assume.

And yes as Matt Peters pointed out, this guy focuses his attention on trophy bass. Although I disagree with the live bait thing. And I have to say, the world record being caught on live bait actually sucks. Thats a firm statement. But if live bait counts, then thats awful. I mean thats like saying all you artificial guys are just wasting your time. Lets use live trout or nothing .

This is a strong opinion but this is what I believe: It should not count if its on live bait. Same as if its snagged. Ideally the only record I will respect is an artificial catch NOT on a bed. And though in a lot of ways im skeptical of George Perry's his fish was on artificial and not on a bed. And I have way more respect for that kind of catch.

Well, Ive got mixed emotions on this issue. I really believe the world record belongs in California. However, lets face it, California anglers have had there share of opportunities and screwed every one of them up. Curse, kinda like the Red Sox and Babe Ruth? I dont know, dont particularly care. But I think this is a wake up call to the Cali guys that have a REAL shot at the world record. I think this will instill new motivation and dedication to the Cali crew, and it will likely make all those with a legit shot rethink how they go about pursueing the world record as it relates to legality and documentation.

As far as live bait goes, there are two sides. First, the dude just caught a world record (notice I didnt say the biggest bass ever)! Im stoked for him and think we all should be, regardless of what it was caught on. Clearly, its not an easy task of finding such a fish then making it bite. Second, the guy is a proven big bass catcher, and from what I can gather a sponsored fisherman, so I would suspect he first tried to catch the fish on an artificial. From what Ive read, it was a "sight fish", not sure what this means but it definitely means he could see the fish; and given his credentials my instincts tell me he didnt try live bait first. So, it sucks it was caught on live bait, but he probably did the best he could. Any of us would have done whatever it took to put that fish in the boat, and I dont look negatively on the guy for using live bait.

Finally, I am of the camp that doesnt believe the George Perry fish, and Im glad that fish will finally be put to rest (well, sorta, assuming the tie issue). This opens a new chapter, and it was a chapter that stunk of staleness.

Thanks for the relayed info Capt G your efforts shouldn't go unnoticed. Maybe now you can change your signature to "the guy that brought world record news to the US"

Just so you know my comments in regards to "the fish having coloring from munchin' too many Biwa Trout" were all in good fun. I in no way meant it as a statement.

I'm stoked for Manabu Karita and anyone that isn't just ain't right. Live bait is....live bait it's a shame and there should be a category for it along with bed fish and northern strains. If it was caught by a meat hunter on live bait that would be one thing,but his intentions were there and he did try to keep the fish alive by the sounds of it. Bottom line is he tracked the fish and found her in a massive lake. Big props goes out to him and the Japanese trophy hunting community. There are some insane sticks over there that pound from the ground and still get it done!

Go ahead and call me inpatient....

What is the status of this catch and the WRB ruling? Has anytime timeline been set or is this just a wait and see deal with the IGFA?

I haven't heard a peep on this, no updates, no new news....Capt. G, you got any info here on where we at and what to expect?

Bump.

Information vacuums raise suspicion.