Record Bass Caught (25.1 lbs) - Catch And Release

[matcom]

<snip>

CARLSBAD, Calif. --A Southern California man has a fish tale which, if true, could give him one of angling's most cherished records. Mac Weakley said he caught a 25.1-pound largemouth bass on Monday at Dixon Lake in San Diego County.

After weighing it on a hand-held digital scale, he released it.

Weakley plans to pursue the record, even though the fish was foul-hooked, meaning the hook lodged in the fish's body, not its mouth. He said it wasn't snagged intentionally.

Jason Schratwieser of the International Game Fish Association said the group would consider the fish as a world record.

The biggest bass on record weighed 22 pounds, 4 ounces. It was caught in 1932 by George W. Perry at Georgia's Montgomery Lake.

http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2006/03/21/california_man_claims_record_bass_catch?mode=PF

[jmowreader]

1. I hope he took pictures too

The catch-and-release trend has engendered a new industry: fiberglass taxidermy.

If you walk into a fiberglass taxidermist's studio with photos and measurements of your fish, they can create a fiberglass replica of it that looks exceptionally real.

I think I would have kept it, though--a male animal that large is preventing all the other males in the area from contributing their genes to the pool, hence cutting down on diversity in the species. In the Carlsbad area there has got to be a public aquarium that would take him.

[TheMightyFavog]

3. The fish was foul-hooked, though.

I know in Wisconsin, it's illegal to keep a foul-hooked fish. The guy did the right thing.

[bmbmd]

2. That is IGFA's single most cherished record.

A twenty-five pounder is equivalent to bob Beamon's long jump in the Mexico City Olympics. The angler had to know that he was holding a multimillion dollar fish in his hand.

[AngryAmish]

4. 1 day late -dupe