World-record bass – maybe – pulled from Lake Dixon

March 20, 2006


SAN DIEGO – Mac Weakley of Carlsbad caught what could be the world-record largemouth bass early Monday at Dixon Lake in Escondido.
The bass weighed 25 pounds, 1 ounce on a hand-held scale, which – if approved – would shatter the world record, the 22-pound, 4-ounce bass caught by George W. Perry at Montgomery Lake in Georgia in 1932.

The catch will have to be approved by the International Game Fish Association.

That may be a problem, however, because Weakley said he foul-hooked the fish – meaning the hook lodged below the dorsal fin on the fish's side, not in the fish's mouth.

Weakley was fishing with his longtime friends Mike Winn and Jed Dickerson. Dickerson caught a 21-pound, 11-ounce bass at the same lake in 2003.

The men believe this is the same fish that Dickerson caught almost three years ago, and which was also caught by another fisherman as a 20-pounder in 2001. They said the fish has the same identifying black dot under its right gill plate.

Weakley released the fish after taking pictures and videos of the weigh-in. But he did not take measurements of the fish, which also may be a problem when it comes to the game fish association approving it as a record catch.