Bob La Londe wrote:
"Ronnie" wrote in message
...

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 Londe
www.YumaBassMan.com




IGFA requires that the fish be legally caught in the jurisdiction it was
caught in. A fish hooked outside the mouth is not a legal catch in CA.
It's not the hook outside the mouth part that makes it a non-catch in
the IGFA's eye, it's the not legal to do that in the state in which it
was caught part.

But the IGFA only gives lip service to the entire fresh water community
to start with, and as far as I"m concerned, they are irrelevant. 1 ounce
or 1/4 ounce, the Japanese fish appears to have been thoroughly
documented, and regardless of the IGFA's rule that serves to protect a
record that was never documented, and not even a photo exists of, the
bass angling public knows that the new record belongs in Japan. The IGFA
is just making itself even more irrelevant with rules like that.