Apparent 22.5-pound largemouth bass caught by an angler at Lake Biwa, Japan, on Thursday, July 2.

[theangler]

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In this photo taken and distributed by Takanari Shogawa of Japanese fishing tackle maker deps Co., Japanese angler Manabu Kurita raises a black bass after he caught it in Lake Biwa, the largest freshwater lake in Japan, Thursday, July 2, 2009. - AP Photo/Takanari Shogawa, deps Co.
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[Cats_N_Bass]

Phenominal catch. But I'm not bitein down till I see another picture, cus that one smells fishey.
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[theangler]

LOL! I hear ya, he definitely is holding it right at the camera which makes it hard to tell for sure.

We've done an April fools prank a couple years running and did a bit of photoshop work to photo's before so I know what you mean, but if you look at his hand it isn't our of proportion to much.

If you look at this page: [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/bass_record_press_release.html"]http://www.bigfishtackle.com/bass_record_press_release.html[/url] you can see our April fools page and the photo is a bit more obvious.

Like you I am still a bit skeptical but everyone who I have talked to seems to think its legit?
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[thecisco]

I agree that the photo is suspect still a huge fish. all the photos I have seen seem to have the fish eye lens effect which is something I have used for years along with holding it out to make a good fish look great. add in that he is tied into the fishing industry and we may have a close call that is used more for its promotional effects.
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[Lee_Thats_Me]

yea i think this as been done by a programme called jasc ive got it, u can tell by the way he holdin it too [fishin]
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