02-18-2008, 11:45 PM
[font "Garamond"][#002850][size 3]Hello,
I am sure you all are familiar with the controversy over Mac Weakley's catch to assume the position as the new world record. However I have a pasted a brief synopsis below and would like some feedback on the questions I have after it:[/size][/#002850][/font]
Controversy has always been a big part of the chase for the world-record largemouth bass, starting from the very beginning: George Perry’s 22-pound 4-ounce bass caught in the backwoods of Georgia on June 2, 1932. Skeptics have always doubted the veracity of Perry’s catch, pointing to the fact that there is no photo or mount of the fish, and that it was weighed on a scale in a country store, then eaten by Perry and his family. Nevertheless, Perry’s fish is now entering its 74th year atop the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) record book.
Mac Weakley, a casino gaming worker, landed a largemouth bass that has turned the fishing world on its head. His fish, which weighed 25 pounds 1 ounce on a friend’s handheld scale, will eclipse the current world record if it stands up to the rigorous standards set by the IGFA, the keeper of all fishing records. As it stands now, that is a big “if.”
The Catch Story:
Weakley felt his line twitch and swung the rod, finally hooking the fish. The bass dove for the depths in the middle of the lake. Weakley reeled the fish back to the boat. Winn dipped the net into the water and only got half of the giant fish in. It escaped and dove again. But in short order, Weakley led her back. This time Winn netted it.
But there was a problem. The jig was embedded in the fish’s back, 3 inches behind the dorsal fin. “We yelled, ‘Oh man, it’s foul-hooked,’” says Steve Barnett, who watched the entire episode with his brother from the dock only a few feet away and says that it was “an insanely enormous bass. It was just insane how big it was.”
The fish was on a stringer attached to the boat. When they returned to the dock, Weakley and Dickerson weighed the fish on a brand-new handheld Berkley digital scale. The scale read 25 pounds 1 ounce, which would beat the previous world record by nearly 3 pounds.
Weakley and Winn strained to lift the fish with one arm for photos. They also shot some video. Barnett says that either Weakley or Dickerson at that point said, “Look, there’s a mark on its back and we don’t know what’s up with that.” Barnett says he and his brother were a bit mystified by the comment, replying, “We saw you foul-hook it, though.” Weakley then told Winn and Dickerson to release the fish.
Weakley neither measured the length and girth of the fish nor weighed it on a certified scale, two requisites of an IGFA world-record application. “At that point, since it was foul-hooked, I just said let’s weigh it and let it go,” he says. “There is no doubt in my mind that this is the biggest bass that anyone has ever seen. It is the world record. And me and Mike and Jed got to hold a 25-pound bass. No one else has ever done that.”
Ray Scott, the founder of BASS and an advisor to the IGFA, says they shouldn’t even bother. “Nobody wants to see the record broken more than I do. I’m as enthralled with the record pursuit as anyone. But there are certain things you have to do to certify the record. These guys—especially these guys who’ve been after the record for a while—knew what those steps were and they didn’t do it,” referring to the lack of measurements and failure to use an IGFA-certified scale.
Scott, known as the godfather of catch-and-release fishing, makes an exception to his philosophy for the most venerable world records, like that for the largemouth bass. “If you catch the record bass, you have to have the corpse,” he says. “Without it, we’ll never know for sure. Now only God knows.”
[font "Garamond"][#002850][size 3]Now that you have read all of that, I'd like to know your thoughts on this catch. Should it be counted even though it was "foul-hooked"? Also reading that last statement makes me wonder how this effects the catch-and-release moral theory? In order for them to take the world record they would have to kill the fish to know for certain. Am I reading that correctly? If so, once they killed the huge fish and brought it in, only to find out they would have been disqualified on the basis of being "foul-hooked", then what?! Do you think that's fair?
[/size][/#002850][/font][font "Garamond"][#002850][size 3]I am really interested and would like all your feed back on this subject and all feedback on my inquiries. Let me know!!
Thanks a bunch,
Dre'[/size][/#002850][/font]
[signature]
I am sure you all are familiar with the controversy over Mac Weakley's catch to assume the position as the new world record. However I have a pasted a brief synopsis below and would like some feedback on the questions I have after it:[/size][/#002850][/font]
Controversy has always been a big part of the chase for the world-record largemouth bass, starting from the very beginning: George Perry’s 22-pound 4-ounce bass caught in the backwoods of Georgia on June 2, 1932. Skeptics have always doubted the veracity of Perry’s catch, pointing to the fact that there is no photo or mount of the fish, and that it was weighed on a scale in a country store, then eaten by Perry and his family. Nevertheless, Perry’s fish is now entering its 74th year atop the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) record book.
Mac Weakley, a casino gaming worker, landed a largemouth bass that has turned the fishing world on its head. His fish, which weighed 25 pounds 1 ounce on a friend’s handheld scale, will eclipse the current world record if it stands up to the rigorous standards set by the IGFA, the keeper of all fishing records. As it stands now, that is a big “if.”
The Catch Story:
Weakley felt his line twitch and swung the rod, finally hooking the fish. The bass dove for the depths in the middle of the lake. Weakley reeled the fish back to the boat. Winn dipped the net into the water and only got half of the giant fish in. It escaped and dove again. But in short order, Weakley led her back. This time Winn netted it.
But there was a problem. The jig was embedded in the fish’s back, 3 inches behind the dorsal fin. “We yelled, ‘Oh man, it’s foul-hooked,’” says Steve Barnett, who watched the entire episode with his brother from the dock only a few feet away and says that it was “an insanely enormous bass. It was just insane how big it was.”
The fish was on a stringer attached to the boat. When they returned to the dock, Weakley and Dickerson weighed the fish on a brand-new handheld Berkley digital scale. The scale read 25 pounds 1 ounce, which would beat the previous world record by nearly 3 pounds.
Weakley and Winn strained to lift the fish with one arm for photos. They also shot some video. Barnett says that either Weakley or Dickerson at that point said, “Look, there’s a mark on its back and we don’t know what’s up with that.” Barnett says he and his brother were a bit mystified by the comment, replying, “We saw you foul-hook it, though.” Weakley then told Winn and Dickerson to release the fish.
Weakley neither measured the length and girth of the fish nor weighed it on a certified scale, two requisites of an IGFA world-record application. “At that point, since it was foul-hooked, I just said let’s weigh it and let it go,” he says. “There is no doubt in my mind that this is the biggest bass that anyone has ever seen. It is the world record. And me and Mike and Jed got to hold a 25-pound bass. No one else has ever done that.”
Ray Scott, the founder of BASS and an advisor to the IGFA, says they shouldn’t even bother. “Nobody wants to see the record broken more than I do. I’m as enthralled with the record pursuit as anyone. But there are certain things you have to do to certify the record. These guys—especially these guys who’ve been after the record for a while—knew what those steps were and they didn’t do it,” referring to the lack of measurements and failure to use an IGFA-certified scale.
Scott, known as the godfather of catch-and-release fishing, makes an exception to his philosophy for the most venerable world records, like that for the largemouth bass. “If you catch the record bass, you have to have the corpse,” he says. “Without it, we’ll never know for sure. Now only God knows.”
[font "Garamond"][#002850][size 3]Now that you have read all of that, I'd like to know your thoughts on this catch. Should it be counted even though it was "foul-hooked"? Also reading that last statement makes me wonder how this effects the catch-and-release moral theory? In order for them to take the world record they would have to kill the fish to know for certain. Am I reading that correctly? If so, once they killed the huge fish and brought it in, only to find out they would have been disqualified on the basis of being "foul-hooked", then what?! Do you think that's fair?
[/size][/#002850][/font][font "Garamond"][#002850][size 3]I am really interested and would like all your feed back on this subject and all feedback on my inquiries. Let me know!!
Thanks a bunch,
Dre'[/size][/#002850][/font]
[signature]
]