Sportsmen lose another duck hunting spot
There will be no more scenes like this one on Langston Lake as duck hunting has been banned
Waterfowlers in central Oklahoma have lost another duck hunting spot as Langston University has announced the end of hunting on Langston Lake.
Last year the Guthrie City Council voted to ban duck hunting at Liberty Lake. This is becoming a disturbing trend.
Blinds on the lake, southwest of the town of Langston, were available to the public in the past by a lottery.
But this season the university delayed any drawing for blinds until a vote was taken on the issue.
“We have been fielding calls from hunters on a call by call basis, and had informed them we would be releasing an official statement from the school until after the new year,” said Fran Thomas, media specialist at Langston University.
That came Monday. According to the news release, the decision to end the hunting of ducks and small game at the lake came as the university takes extra efforts to enforce its zero tolerance policy for drugs, alcohol and firearms.
According to a statement released by LU’s Office of the President, the decision to ban duck hunting at Langston Lake received a unanimous vote by the Langston University Extended Council in November.
In making its determination to cease duck hunting at its lake, Langston University considered some prior mishaps that included a drowning, unauthorized use of blinds, and confrontations among hunters.
JoAnn W. Haysbert, president of Langston University, said making the decision to end the longstanding tradition of controlled duck hunting at Langston Lake wasn’t something that was done without much deliberation and consideration.
“Langston University has offered small game hunting privileges to the hunting community at Langston Lake for over four decades, and it is with great regret that we announce the banning of what has become a yearly tradition within our community,” Haysbert said. “However, in keeping with LU’s zero tolerance policy for firearms, our university had no other recourse but to demand compliance from all of its departments, including in this case Langston Lake.”
OU bass anglers capture Texas event
OU Bass Club members Chip Porche and Mark Johnson win an FLW event on Falcon Lake
The men’s basketball team at the University of Oklahoma is struggling but the bass fishing club is hot.
The OU team of Mark Johnson and Chip Porche won the National Guard FLW College Fishing Texas Division event on Falcon Lake Saturday with six bass weighing 34 pounds, 8 ounces.
OSU anglers Nathan Gonsoulin and Tripp Elliott finished fifth.
The victory earned the OU team $10,000 to be split evenly between the university and the university’s bass fishing club.
The win also helped them advance to the Texas Division Regional Championship in Austin, Texas, Oct. 23-25, where they could ultimately win a Ranger 177TR with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Yamaha outboard wrapped in school colors for their school’s club and $25,000 for the school they represent.
Their first victory
“This is amazing,” Johnson told FLW Outdoors. “Chip and I just had an incredible day, this is great a lake. We caught all our fish using a Black Angel football jig. We only had nine keepers all day, but they were the ones we needed.
“Chip and I have been fishing together for about two and a half years and this is our first victory together. We have been close a couple of times, but never won – it’s awesome.”
Despite the brutal cold conditions Johnson and Porche were able to maintain their composure, settle down and turn in a good sack of fish. They knocked one good fish off with the net, but were able to come back from that mistake and fish a nearly flawless day.
“It was just our day,” said Porche. “Like Mark said, we have been fishing together for over two years and I think the fact that we were able to work as a team made the big difference in our victory.”
OSU finishes fifth
Rounding out the top five teams were Louisiana State University – Blake Carrier and Logan Mount (six bass, 28-13, $5,000); Louisiana State University, Shreveport – Zach Caudle and Joe Landry (six bass, 23-13 $4,000); University of Louisiana – Cody McCrary and Neil Arnaud (six bass, 21-5, $3,000); Oklahoma State University – Nathan Gonsoulin and Tripp Elliott (five bass, 19-3, $2,000).
Collegiate bass fishing
FLW Outdoors announced the College Fishing trail in May 2008.
Full-time students enrolled in four year colleges or universities are eligible to participate in the events. Schools can send two-person teams to each of the four qualifying events in their division, with each event limited to a maximum of 40 teams.
Each team has the opportunity to win $10,000 for first through $2,000 for fifth place. Prize money is split evenly between the winning team’s club and the school they represent.
The tournaments are free to enter. Boats and drivers are provided by FLW and all collegiate teams receive a travel allowance.
The top five teams in each qualifying event advance to one of five televised three-day National Guard FLW College Fishing Regional Championships.
The top five teams from each regional championship will advance to the National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship.
The National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship is a three-day televised event hosting the top five teams from each regional, 25 total teams.
Teams will be provided shirts and wrapped Ranger boats towed by Chevy trucks for this competition.
The winning team will be declared the National Guard FLW Collegiate National Champion and will qualify for the 2011 Forrest Wood Cup.
The winners will also receive use of a wrapped boat and Chevy truck for cup competition.
It’s official. The Japan bass is a world record.
This largemouth bass caught in Japan officially ties a 77-year-old world record
The International Game Fish Association announced today that the 22-pound plus largemouth bass caught in Japan last July ties the IGFA All-Tackle World Record.
Freshwater fishing’s “Holy Grail” now has dual holders. The 22 pound, 4 ounce largemouth bass caught by Japan’s Manabu Kurita matches the IGFA record held for 77 years by Georgia’s George Perry.
The following is the news release issued by the IGFA, based in Dania Beach, Fla.
After nearly six months of waiting, Japan’s Manabu Kurita is taking his place along side Georgia angler George Perry in the International Game Fish Association’s World Record Games Fishes book as dual holders of the All-Tackle record for largemouth bass.
Each weighed 22 pounds, 4 ounces and were caught 77 years apart.
The IGFA approved Kurita’s application for the fish caught from Japan’s largest lake on July 2, 2009. The 70-year old non-profit fisheries conservation, education and record-keeping body, received Kurita’s application and documentation on Sept. 19, 2009.
Caught at Lake Biwa
The largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), was caught from Lake Biwa which is an ancient reservoir northeast of Kyoto.
Kurita, 32, of Aichi, Japan, was fishing Biwa that July day using a Deps Sidewinder rod and a Shimano Antares DC7LV reel loaded with 25-pound Toray line when he pitched his bait, a live bluegill, next to a bridge piling.
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.
Kurita was quoted as saying “I knew it was big, but I didn’t know it was that big.”
But big it was. Using certified scales, his fish weighed in at 10.12 kg or 22 pounds, 4 ounces. When measured, the fish had a fork length of 27.2 inches and a girth of 26.7 inches.
Establishing it as a record
The IGFA only has line classes up to 20 pounds for largemouth bass, so Kurita had no chance at a line class record as well.
IGFA rules for fish caught outside the U.S. allows anglers 90 days to submit their applications from the date of their catch. The documentation was received through the IGFA’s sister association the Japan Game Fish Association (JGFA). IGFA conservation director Jason Schratwieser said Kurita’s application was meticulously documented with the necessary photos and video.
Kurita’s fish ties the current record held for over 77 years by Perry who caught his bass on Georgia’s Montgomery Lake, June 2, 1932, near Jacksonville, Ga. That 22 pound, 4 ounce behemoth won Field and Stream Magazine’s big fish contest and 46 years later, when the IGFA took over freshwater records from Field and Stream, it became the All-Tackle record, now one of more than 1,100 fresh and saltwater species the IGFA monitors.
IGFA All-Tackle records are now free for viewing by the public at igfa.org.
Kurita’s name is now on the IGFA Web site with that of Perry’s and will appear in the 2011 edition of the World Record Games Fishes book…. unless that record is broken this year.
The Holy Grail of Bass Fishing
In North America the largemouth bass, and especially the All-Tackle record, is considered by millions of anglers as the “holy grail” of freshwater fish because of its popularity and the longevity of Perry’s record.
That fish undoubtedly helped to spawn a billion dollar industry that today makes up a significant part of the sport of recreational fishing.
Schratwieser said, “The moment Kurita weighed his fish, word spread like wildfire. We knew this would be significant so we immediately contacted the JGFA for more information.”
Established in 1979, and JGFA compiles and translates all record applications of fish caught in Japan before forwarding to the IGFA.
“It works out well because they not only translate applications but can also contact the angler if more documentation is needed.”
The investigation
It turned into a lengthy process.
“Since the IGFA requires three months from the time of capture before a record can be approved, the official word would have to wait until Oct. 2,” said Schratwieser.
“However, almost right away rumors began to circulate that Kurita may have caught his fish in a ‘no-fishing zone’.
In response, the IGFA immediately corresponded with the JGFA to speak with the angler about this issue and to gather information regarding the legality of fishing where Kurita caught his bass.
Official word came back that the location of the catch was not a no-fishing zone, but was an area where anchoring or stopping was prohibited. This spurred more correspondence with the JGFA and the angler, including affidavits asking the angler if he stopped his boat at anytime.
Again, the testimony and affidavits that came back indicated that the Kurita did not violate any laws and that his catch was indeed legitimate.”
It didn’t end there.
A considerable amount of time and correspondence was to continue between the IGFA, JGFA and Kurita, a primary reason it took so long to come to a decision.
During this time, the IGFA was also besieged with letters and emails from the bass fishing community, said Schratwieser.
“Many were incredulous that the All-Tackle record could be tied from a fish in Japan. Others beseeched the IGFA to approve the record and give Kurita the credit he deserves. Still others wanted to know why the entire process was taking so long.
“It soon became clear to the IGFA staff that this would be a contentious issue no matter if the record were approved or rejected.
“The IGFA was also sensitive to this particular record because in past years there have been several attempts to sue us over largemouth bass record claims. Although none of these claims have been successful, they have resulted in considerable legal fees for the IGFA,” he said.
The polygraph
In the end, the IGFA staff concluded it would be both in the best interest of the IGFA and that of Kurita if he submitted to a polygraph analysis. The IGFA reserves the right to employ polygraph analyses to any record application, and this is explicitly stated in the affidavit section of the world record application form.
Again, more correspondence was issued to the JGFA to request that Kurita take a polygraph test.
He immediately agreed. On Dec. 15, Kurita was examined by a professional polygraph analyst in Japan.
The many questions he was given included if he was truthful about the information reported on the application form and if his boat ever came to a complete stop while fighting his fish.
The results from the polygraph concluded that Manabu Kurita answered the questions honestly and that the catch was legitimate.
George Perry’s 77-year-old record was officially tied.
Bass an undesirable fish in Japan
Largemouth bass have also been introduced in many countries but in Japan fisheries officials consider it an invasive species.
In addition, because bass are not native and are stocked in Japan, many speculated that the big bass was a sterile triploid.
However when biologists in Japan examined the ova of the big female, Schratwieser said they concluded that the fish was not triploid.
Close calls in the past
For more than 77 years the record stood as bass fanatics theorized when and where the record would be broken. Over the years there have been rumors and unsubstantiated reports of bass that could have tied or eclipsed Perry’s record, but nothing ever passed IGFA criteria. Some anglers did come close, however.
Schratwieser said the closest came in 1991, when Robert Crupi caught a 22-pound bass in Lake Dixon, Calif. that still reigns as the 16-pound line class record and the third heaviest approved bass record in IGFA history.
“Most people thought that the next All-Tackle record would come from California. Until Kurita’s tie the seven heaviest bass records behind Perry’s came from California lakes,” Schratwieser said. “Although not native to California, it appears transplanted bass have adapted quite well to the deep, clear lakes and reservoirs and the abundant trout forage found in some of them.
“Little did people know that introduced bass grew big in places besides California, and that there are true monsters swimming on the other side of the world in Japan.”
The IGFA has been recognized as the official keeper of world saltwater fishing records since its founding in 1939. Annually it publishes a comprehensive list of current records of fresh and saltwater fish across the globe in its World Record Game Fishes book which is divided into all-tackle, line classes, fly, and junior record categories.
Possible world record largemouth to be announced Friday
Will this Japan bass be certified as the new world record largemouth?
The International Game Fish Association will announce its decision Friday regarding the world record application of Japan’s Manabu Kurita.
Bassmaster.com will carry live coverage of the press conference at 12:30 p.m. CDT.
On July 2, Kurita reportedly caught a 22-pound, 4.97-ounce largemouth bass from Lake Biwa, one of the largest lakes in Japan and one of the oldest in the world.
If IGFA approves Kurita’s application, his catch will tie the current record, a 22-4 largemouth caught by George W. Perry in 1932 from Georgia’s Montgomery Lake, an oxbow of the Ocmulgee River.
The 77-year-old record is one of the oldest, and certainly the most sought after, in all of sportfishing.
Kurita’s catch and application triggered one of the longest and most exhaustive investigations in IGFA history.
Since Kurita’s fish does not exceed the weight of Perry’s fish by more than 2 ounces, it is not eligible to qualify as a new world record, according to IGFA regulations.
Instead, if it is approved, the catch will be considered a tie with Perry’s fish.
