Bass masters come from all parts now

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Manabu Kurita shows off the 27.2-inch largemouth bass he caught in Japan.Courtesy IGFA

October 01, 2009

By Mark Freeman

Mail Tribune

Southern bass anglers see it as their birthright to chase the next "sowbelly." But bass fishing may be the latest American original to become outsourced.

The International Game Fish Association is in the process of verifying the catch of a largemouth bass with a swine-like girth which, if approved, would equal George Perry's 22-pound, 4-ounce world-record benemoth caught in Georgia in 1932.

But this potential new Holy Grail largemouth also comes with another moniker — "Made in Japan."

The fish was caught July 2 by Japanese pro angler Manabu Kurita — burnt-orange hair and all — in Lake Biwa northeast of Kyoto.

Kurita caught his sowbelly while trolling a bluegill through a canal. It measured 27.2 inches long and has a reported girth of 26.77 inches.

The Florida-based IGFA is close to finishing its investigation into the legitimacy of the catch, and the Southern bass masses — some of whom still consider California-caught largemouth as illegitimate step-fish — are one stroke of a pen from finding a new continent wedged into their fold.

"Largemouth bass, apple pie and lemonade are America," says Jason Schratwieser, the IGFA's conservation director. "But people have to realize that the species has been transplanted all over the world.

"Still, nobody, including myself, would ever expect a world record to come out of Japan," Schratwieser adds.

And some, it turns out, may have some trouble accepting it.

"We have some people, some rednecks, who don't like it that a Japanese guy has submitted for the record," says Bill Baab, a Georgia author who has trumpeted Perry and his catch for decades.

But Baab says the phrase "records are made to be broken" is a cliche, in part, because it's true. So why can't American angling's most hallowed record be equaled, if not bettered?

Baab says he's willing to reach a friendly handshake across the Pacific — provided this fish doesn't prove to be fraudulent or illegally caught like some purported records out of California in past years.

Already, rumors of the fish getting caught in a no-fishing zone have resonated through the highly competitive bass world. Baab and others also want the frozen carcass x-rayed to ensure it's not spiked with a lead diving belt like one past almost-record once was.

"If it turns out to be a tie for the record, then I'll be the first to congratulate him," Baab says. "But we want to make sure everything's on the up-and-up. We've had enough nonsense over the years from the California wannabes."

Southern bassers never figured that one day they'd have to find out how to say "wannabe" in Japanese.

"I think it caught everybody by surprise," Baab says. "Who would have thought Japan would produce a world-record bass?"

Monte Burke did.

In Burke's 2005 book, "Sowbelly," he chronicled the myopic quest to beat Perry's largemouth and suggested that Japan, Cuba and Mexico could produce a Perry-busting largemouth.

When news of Kurita's fish first came over the American transom, word was that the fish may weigh an ounce more — less than the 2-ounce difference needed to officially break the record, but enough to get some Southern bassers ripe to gripe.

"If there was no controversy at all, that would amaze me," Burke says. "I'm sure some folks down there aren't happy. But George Perry's fish is still there. It's still No. 1."

While Burke believes bigger fish lurk in the depths of Texas and California lakes, Americans will need to accept that they don't have the world market cornered on their signature fish anymore.

"This is the same as what happens in other sports, like when the (U.S.A. basketball's) 'Dream Team' got beat," Burke says. "Just because it's native here doesn't mean we have an unlimited warranty on it."

Still, the IGFA is peeking under the hood and kicking the tires here to see whether Kurita's bass is legit.

Schratwieser says the IGFA is doing its "due diligence" on the application, including interviews with Japanese officials to confirm that the fish was caught legally in water open to angling.

"When you get a world record of this magnitude, there are always people who get excited," Schratwieser says. "You have a bunch of stuff come up. Our job is to wade through the hearsay and get at the facts."

Schratwieser won't say whether IGFA is close to validating the new Sowbelly II, but he expects a ruling within two weeks.

"We can't really comment until the final stroke of the pen to paper is 'accept' or 'reject,' " Schratwieser says.

The bass world is, after all, about keeping score and making money.

Even though the score could be a tie, there is still plenty of money to be made off the intercontinental buzz over Kurita's catch.

Baab's new book, "Remembering George W. Perry," is scheduled to go to the printer today and is set for release in November.

"I'll have an afterword about this fish, if I get word of the OK or dismissal in time," Baab says.

A Japanese publishing house has just bought the rights to Burke's book.

"The only English word in it," Burke says, "is Sowbelly."

Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail mfreeman@mailtribune.com.

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