Manabu Kurita and his record-tying bass (Photo: IGFA)
The Holy Grail of Bass Fishing just got a little more crowded on Jan. 8 when the International Game Fish Association, after a 6 month review process, approved Manabu Kurita’s 22-pound, 4-ounce largemouth bass as the co-world record holder for the species. He caught the huge bass in Japan’s Lake Biwa on July 2, 2009 — 77 years after George Perry caught his long-standing world record in Georgia’s Montgomery Lake.
Now, Perry and Kurita, 32, of Aichi, Japan, will forever be linked in history by a pair of 22-pound, 4-ounce largemouth bass.
Kurita caught his world record bass on a live bluegill near a piling in Lake Biwa while using a Deps Sidewinder rod and a Shimano Antares DC7LV reel loaded with 25-lb. Toray line. It was Kurita’s first cast to the piling where he had seen a big bass swimming. He only twitched the bait a couple of times before he got bit. After a short, three minute fight he had the fish in the boat.
“I knew it was big, but I didn’t know it was that big,” he said.
When measured, the fish had a fork length of 27.2 inches and a girth of 26.7 inches. The IGFA only has line classes up to 20 lb for largemouth bass, so Kurita had no chance at a line class record as well.
For more: IGFA website
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Congratulations to Manabu Kurita. He is a true trophy hunter dedicated to the pursuit of world record bass like no other. I am proud to say that in the past year he has become one of my closest friends, Another person who helps him a great deal but receives no real credit is Reika Ishaguro who designs his website, communicates his thoughts and wishes to me and others, and also is a great angler in her own right. Manabu and Reika are good friends and you can talk with both of them at my website at Northeast Bass Fishing For Trophy Bass. http://delawaretrophybass.com
Tight lines, and best of luck to all trophy hunters the world over on the next world record. Steve Owner