One word: Wow!This photo released by International Game Fish Association shows Manabu Kurita of Aichi, Japan, holding his July 2, 2009, record catch, a largemouth bass caught on Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake. The record-tying bass weighed 22 pounds, 4 ounces.
(AP Photo/International Game Fish Association)
I saw this photo while designing the Outdoors page for Sunday's print edition of the newspaper, and I knew I had to work it into the paper.
That's a big fish. My largest largemouth, a 7 pound, 4 ouncer out of Little (or West if you'd like) Jefferson, pales in comparison. The one thing I have in common with Kurita, though, is the strain on my face. He handled it much better. As you can see by my expression to the right, I look like I am constipated or something.
Regardless of the type of fish you're after, catching a trophy of your desired species, such as Kurita did, is something that doesn't happen very often.
Roger, the man who lets fellow staffer Tanner Kent and I launch from his property on Little Jeff, was one of the first people to see that picture of my 22 1/4 inch bass. He's an avid walleye and northern angler who absolutely hates bass (perhaps more than Free Presser John Cross).
He asks me if I kept that green carp, to which I tell him no (I did what I thought was the noble thing by weighing and measuring the beast before tossing it back in after a few quick pictures).
"Then you're an idiot," the old fisherman says, "cause that's a trophy fish."
Perhaps. I'm a catch-and-release guy at heart.
I know if I caught a world-record bass, though, it'd be going on my wall. Heck, even a state-record bass would end up on my wall.
At this point, I'd be happy to hoist up a 7 pounder if I ever catch one out of Minnesota waters again. A trophy's a trophy.
