Big bass, big hog
You think fishermen lie? Today is the 75th anniversary of bass fishing’s biggest record: the 22 pound, 4 ounce largemouth bass caught by George Perry in the backwoods of Georgia on June 2, 1932.
But was it really that big? Count me among the skeptics that say no.
Biologists have been trying to grow bigger bass for decades and by and large have been successful with better habitat and improved genetics. State largemouth bass fishing records have consistently fallen, but the world record has remained untouched for 75 years? Doesn’t seem likely to me.
Perry weighed the fish on a scale in a country store, then took it home and ate it. The International Game Fish Association, the fish record-keeping authority, grandfathered in Perry’s record, but such measly documentation on a fish today wouldn’t even be considered for a world record. But it’s given bass anglers for the past 75 years something to shoot for…
Much like Perry’s bass, I have my doubts about the 1,100-pound hog shot in Alabama by an 11-year-old boy. I hate to be distrusting, but I have seen to many trophy photos on the Internet that have been doctored.
If you believe everything you see on the Internet, then there are mountain lions roaming the streets of Watonga and 244-pound alligator gar swimming around in Broken Bow Lake. I know hogs can get big, but 1,100 pounds? It could be true, but I would have to see it with my own eyes to believe it.
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