The IGFA announced its decision today. The 22 pound, 4.97 ounce largemouth caught in Japan by Manabu Kurita will be shown as a tie. George Perry's bass that held the record for over 75 years will be considered a tie although it weighed 22 pounds, 4 ounces. The IGFA requires a new record be beat by two ounces to be considered as breaking the old record.
This rule may not make sense, but the reason is scales are much more accurate now than in the past, and most scales in the past were spring loaded and showed pounds and ounces, not tenths and hundredths of ounces and pounds. So it is possible George Perry's bass weighed as much as Manabu Kurita since the weight was probably rounded off to the nearest ounce.
picture (c) IGFA.org
Comments
I support the decision to list it as a tie, but some folks are gonna complain.
It was quite a shocker to learn it came from Japan where O bucketmouth is considered a nuisance.
I agree if this is the same breed of Bass as the original record holder. This particular bass looks a bit different then the Largies here in the United States. Now I could be wrong about this and if anyone has any info on the “Japanese Largemouth” I would like to hear about it.