"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
...
"Ronnie" wrote in message
...
On Jul 6, 11:56 am, "Bob La Londe" wrote:
"Ronnie" wrote in message

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As I understand it, this wouldn't be the world record because the
IGFA
requires a record to beat the old one by two ounces, so it officially
would
be considered a tie

That is the way I understand it, too, and what I said in the short
article I did on it.

I wonder what standards and rules would apply under the old Field &
Stream
rules where Perry's fish was registered. As near as I can tell IGFA did
not
exist back then.

Not going to get into old arguments about Dottie, but a fish hooked
outside
of the mouth might not be disqualified from record holding status
according
to IGFA. Still I have a lot of respect for them deciding to release the
fish, and because they were sight fishing it probably was not a
qualifying
catch. Just remember that "foul hooked" is not an instant illegitimate
catch or you could find yourself throwing away tournament winning fish
that
you could have weighed legally. Know your local regulations, and read
your
tournament rules. I personally know three people who have made that
mistake, and its happened in pro level tournaments as well.

Hard jerkbait and topwater fish are routinely hooked outside the mouth.
Neither method is usually fished to deliberately "snag" a fish.

Bob La Londewww.YumaBassMan.com

"Fishing for it on the bed and hooking it in the side" is kinda like
"sight fishing and foul hooking it."

"because they were sight fishing it probably was not a qualifying catch. "

Uh, huh.

I wanted to add though, that there was some confusion as to whether it would
have still been a legal catch because while many tournament rules say must
be caught in mouth while sight fishing CaDFG regs just say must be fished in
a manner to attempt to get the fish to take the bait voluntarily, but does
not say that the fish must be hooked in the mouth. He said he felt a tap
and swung.

Often when sight fishing I have just watched to see what the bass do and
what I feel without ever setting the hook so I could learn something. One
thing I noticed when sight fishing bedding bass was that sometimes they take
an invading bait on the initial entry and you really don't feel anything.
The first tap you feel is the bait dropping away when they spit it out. I
have also noticed largemouth are more inclined to this type of bite and spit
than a smallmouth. For those who want to learn something, anytime you get
to fish an area where you can see the bass take your bait whether its clear
water cranking off the edge of a grassbed, shallow ambush feeders in a back
channel, or bedding bass you should take the time to see what the fish do
instead of just smacking them hard and getting them in the boat as fast as
you can. Its a fantastic learning opportunity that I think many anglers
over look.

It was most definitely a grey area, but lots of haters and jealous anglers
wanted to declare that there was no possible way it was a legal catch. I
had hoped not to restart this old arguement, but at the time I read all the
hate, rules, jealousy, articles, etc that were posted on-line and came in my
fishing magazine and that was my conclusion based on the few articles and
comments that were not over burdened with opinion and conjecture.

The only real conclusion is they had a world record bass in their boat,
decide it was a grey area and released her.

* Useful Repeat * One thing I noticed when sight fishing bedding bass was
that sometimes they take an invading bait on the initial entry and you
really don't feel anything. The first tap you feel is the bait dropping
away when they spit it out.

* What I do * This observation has helped me with both bed fish and fishing
where I can not see the fish because of water color or heavy vegetation. As
soon as the bait stops moving I bring the line snug and see if it moves by
lifting or pulling very slightly. If it does not move I set the hook. 9
times out of 10 its a fish. If it does move I'll pause, and then shake the
bait to see if it will fall further then when it stops I do the same thing
again. I know, I know. Lots of folks will say that they feel every strike,
and that I must be using inferior technique or equipment if I "have to" do
that, but I use good equipment and even my flipping sticks have some
sensitivty and whenever practical use braided line for even more
sensitivity. With a good rod and braided line you can feel the line jump
even just a little bit even with a lot of slack in your line. Sometimes it
doesn't jump. It just stops on the fall like it hit bottom or landed on a
branch.

Bob La Londe
www.YumaBassMan.com