...He caught this 22-pound, 4-ounce bass while fishing Japan's Lake Biwa. Georgia's George Perry established the same mark 77 years

BASS pros make big-screen debut

The premiere of Bass: The Movie, billed as "a road trip through California in search of fishing secrets and a world record," will take place Oct. 17 at Pacific Design Center in Hollywood, Calif.

IGFA receives documentation, photos of pending world record largemouth bass

Documentation for a much talked about 22-pound, 4-ounce largemouth bass, caught from Japan's largest lake in July, has arrived into the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) headquarters for world record recognition.

IGFA receives info on Japan bass

Documentation, photos arrive on pending world record largemouth caught in Japan

Follies, frauds and hoaxes

In the 77 years since George Perry set the bar at 22 pounds, 4 ounces, dozens of anglers have laid claim to a largemouth bass that weighed more. None have been able to substantiate their claims; some haven't even tried.

Follies, frauds and hoaxes

Throw seven figures at something and you're bound to create some interest. That's the way it's been for the world record largemouth bass ever since the mid-1970s when someone decided that a new record would be worth more than $1 million.

Holiest of Holies

In the world of bass fishing, there's no bigger tournament than the Bassmaster Classic, no more important species than the largemouth and no greater catch than the all-tackle world record.

The Record BP (Before Perry)

It seems that George Washington Perry has always been on top of the hill when it comes to big bass. But if you look back — way back — you'll find that there were giant largemouths even before the first "official" world record holder.

What happens next?

Now that a potential new world record largemouth bass has been landed — and in Japan of all places! — what needs to happen to seal the deal and get the fish entered in the record books?

Our own Mount Rushmore

In the Black Hills of South Dakota there is a gigantic sculpture paying tribute to four former presidents — George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt.

Story | Conversation | July 27, 2009

10 Reasons the Record's Not Worth a Fortune

For decades, we bass anglers have been telling ourselves that a world record largemouth would be worth $1 million — maybe more — to the fisherman lucky enough to catch it.

Off the wire

Outdoors headlines from across the country

A new world record?

Seventy-seven years and counting. That's how long George Perry has sat atop the record books in the largemouth bass category, but he may be sharing his perch if a recently caught Japanese bass is as big as has been reported.

George Perry

Full Moon Fever!

...on that Sports Illustrated swimsuit calendar on your wall!" "Well, it was June of 1932 when George W. Perry caught the world record bass — 22 pounds, 4 ounces, to be exact! And based on...