Interview with Mac Weakley...long

BassFan: What did it feel like when you hooked, then landed the fish?
Weakley: "You know you're fishing for something that's just huge. It was
just a full adrenaline rush. Unfortunately, she got snagged on the side.
It sucks, but it happened.
I caught the fish, brought it in, got it in the boat, saw it was
foul-hooked on the side, and I couldn't even really think straight –
it was such a full adrenaline rush. It was just a really exciting
experience to see a fish that big. To see they can grow that large –
it was pretty neat.
You've said you won't submit the fish to the IGFA for possible
world-record certification. Why not?
I don't want it to be an official, or unofficial, record. The three of
us had put so much time into this. At first, people were pushing the
fact that it could be (a record) because was it intentional or not? If
not, it could be.
I didn't even know those rules even existed. I had no idea they were
there. We knew because it was foul-hooked there would be tons of
controversy. I didn't know the rules, but I didn't think it would count.
I was just stoked to get a 25-pound bass. That's what the video was for
– for us to share as we get older. Everybody wanted a copy, so I gave
it to them. People are saying they'll give me money for it, but I
haven't received one dollar. I don't want to receive a dollar. I've told
everybody, if they send me money, I'll send it to Make-A-Wish.
I have a great job. I really don't think (potential money) would change
my life. I'm very fortunate and blessed for what I have. I'm truly
blessed with great friends, an awesome family, a good job. So I don't
think it would change my life at all.
Even if I hit the lottery, I'd still be going out there with Jed and
Mike. We fish sal****er too – we have our own skiff. In fact, I enjoy
sal****er fishing more than bass fishing.
The thing that's really sad is, I feel this record's really tarnished by
everybody looking at it for this big cash-in they're going to get.
That's why I think the record is so popular.
Not only that, but the fact that people are wondering if (bass) can
actually grow that large. Between the three of us, we know they can get
bigger than that. When you see big fish repeatedly – these fish are
23-, 25-pound fish – you don't see them often, that's for sure. But
you definitely know it when you see something that large.
Now that some of the dust is settling, are you anxious to put the whole
catch behind you?
Totally. I felt I did the right thing by releasing the fish. The fish is
still alive and swimming in there for anybody to have a chance to catch
it – whether it's a 12-year-old boy or a 60-year-old man.
That's what I feel is the most important thing – why I was in such a
rush to get this fish back inside the lake.
Is that why you didn't officially weigh and measure the fish?
To set the record straight, I didn't want a bunch of people taking
photos of it. It's not healthy to pass around the fish. All it takes is
one person to drop it on the dock and that fish dies.
Mike (Winn) has been a charter captain, and he has tons of fish-handling
skills. I was confident to let Mike do the handling of the fish. Again,
the cool thing is the fish is still living. Catch and release is proved
to be a very good thing for a lake.
But I'm pretty much ready to put this behind me. This will probably be
the last interview I wind up doing. I don't want any product
endorsements. If someone sends me free products, I'll give them away to
charity.
The other thing is, I've been very open about giving away the pictures
and video. It doesn't matter to me.
There seems to be some discrepancy about how you got on the water so
early. Could you walk us through that?
People keep talking about that. It's a public thing, and people can go
there and do the same thing. If they get outwitted because we actually
figured that out (the camping permit), how is that our problem? They
have the same right to do the same thing.
San Diego is very competitive – especially for bed-fishing. The more
that I look at it, I'll still always enjoy the sport, and there's some
really good sportsmen out there – like Mike Long, and definitely five
stars for John Kerr.
The fish was foul-hooked – it wasn't properly caught. Therefore, I
believe, after thinking about it, that it should not be the record out
of respect for the rest of the guys like Long and Kerr, who've put
thousands of hours into doing this.
I would like to see people actually try to get the rules down to the
wire. All this speculation – what if you're fishing a private lake?
What if you have access to certain areas that other people don't have?
How is that fair?
So you think the world-record rules need to be refined?
One thing I always discussed is if you're fishing a private lake, and
the general public doesn't have access to it, how can that be considered
a record?
There's a gray area and people definitely need to refine it if we're to
continue to pursue the world record. So when it's caught there's no
controversies behind it. I think the controversy sells, and people want
to stir everything up with it.
After you caught the fish, you went out toward the center of the lake
before coming to the dock. Can you discuss that?
We went to the middle of the lake because it was something we wanted to
experience for the three of us. We were high-fiving each other, and
stoked to see the fish. That's it. Those were our thoughts.
And, "What do we do?" It wasn't because I'm going to turn this fish in
as the official record. That's ridiculous. There were already witnesses
on the docks who saw it was foul-hooked.
People also need to understand, I can't respond to people's questions
that everyone has immediately on the Internet. I don't know how many
calls I got. It was like people were pulling from every limb of your
body.
So to set the record straight, you did not intentionally snag the fish,
and you had no intention of ever obscuring the fact that is was
foul-hooked?
I don't even know how I could answer that. My intention was to catch the
fish. Things happen when you're fishing. Maybe I jumped the gun, and I
set (the hook) out of sequence. Obviously I did. You know how it is when
you're bed-fishing. A big fish can come in and in a second suck in and
blow out a gallon of water. There was also the male to contend with.
When you're fishing that early in the morning, and it's windy, and
rainy, and I pretty much have a major astigmatism, so I can't see that
well as it is. The fish was foul-hooked. I admit it.
Kyle (Malmstrom) told us (on Sunday) that he actually saw the fish, felt
it – actually saw that it picked it up his bait, that he got bit by
it. That's the nature of the bass. That's just how it is.
We're human beings. We're not perfect. You can't always be perfect. The
guys on tour fishing professionally, they do one little thing wrong and
they lose a big fish. It comes out after the fact that maybe you feel
bad, maybe you should have got the net out instead of flipping it up on
the boat.
I'm human. I made a mistake. Unfortunately, it happened on a big fish.
But it's not the only big fish it's happened on.
I've had other big fish eat a jig and I didn't have the drag set right.
Everybody has their fish story about the one that got away. That's the
thing. Everybody wants to know if it was intentionally snagged. It was
not intentional. I was trying to do everything but catch that fish the
way I did.
Kyle Malmstrom told us you offered him $1,000 on Sunday for a chance to
catch the fish. Is that true?
I sure did. Absolutely. Everybody thinks I'm going to stray away from
that question. Jed offered him five rods (for the chance). We saw him
(Kyle) fishing for this fish for a long period of time. He even let me
inside of his boat, so I could take a look at that fish.
The first words out of my mouth when I saw it were, "That's Jed's fish."
(Weakley's fish is believed to be the same fish Jed Dickerson caught in
2003, when it weighed 21-11. – Ed.)
He (Kyle) wanted to borrow my cell phone. His wife was giving him a hard
time for being out there so long, so he made me talk to his wife to
convince her that is was Jed's fish, and that he needs to stay.
He kind of stared at it in water, and we talked back and forth. At that
point, he said he's not going to leave. We decided we'd get a campsite
so we'd be the first ones out.
People are losing sight of the fact that people can actually see a fish
that big on a video and photo. There's so many people here that do
things like poach, and there's people that snag – people who do all
kinds of things. And the nature of the bass – that's how it is.
That's why I tell everybody, I hope it's a 12-year-old boy sitting on
the dock (who catches the official record), so people will give it a
break. If it comes from any professional, they'll always be wondering,
how did you catch it?
Does that controversy have you feeling down?
I'm setting the record straight, telling you right now, it's not the
record, and should not be the record.
It's the same bad beating I watched Jed take. I saw Jed weigh his fish
at 22-09 (in 2003). But by the time the warden got there, it weighed
21-11.
Back then, we were like, "That's ridiculous. All the witnesses said the
fish was 22-09, and (he) should be awarded that." Well, I'm not a
biologist, but from what I hear, these fish can actually lose weight as
they stress out. They regurgitate.
The ranger on the dock watched it spit out food. Jim Dayberry, the
ranger, was like, "That's BS, I saw the thing weigh 22-09. He got
robbed."
He was a member of the BBRC (Big Bass Record Club) at the time. (The
BBRC would have paid $1 million for a new world record. – Ed.) We
could have caused a huge stink. I'm not going to cause a huge stink of
this.
There was a certified scale at Dixon when Jed weighed his fish, but it's
no longer there, right?
Before, back when Jed weighed his fish, there was a certified digital
scale up on the dock. What happened was, the man that owned the dock and
concession stand – his name was Lyle – he got rid of the dock, and
apparently the city owns the rights to the concession stand.
Lyle took his certified scale. But after the fact, (lake superintendent)
Tony Smock told us they have a digital scale in the ranger station.
First of all, I didn't know they had that scale. Second, I was not about
to go toting that fish all over the place. It's not right when there's a
whole circus around with a bunch of people poking at it and lifting it
out of the water.
When Jed weighed his fish, at the end of the day, at least a hundred
people had to pick up Jed's fish just to see it. That's what people
aren't looking at here. People want to bring up a bunch of negative crap
because it sells, and people are jealous.
The thing they shouldn't discount is the fact the fish weighed 25
pounds. There's no doubt it was foul-hooked, and no doubt it shouldn't
qualify, but it weighed 25 pounds.
I looked at some of the comments on BassFan and other sites, and told
the guys from ESPN that it looks to be the public out there is looking
at this like a 50-50 thing – 50% are wanting this thing to be the
world record, then 50% don't.
Mike and Jed and myself talked (Tuesday) night. We said, "We've been
doing this a long time, and we know we have the edge as far as breaking
the record. We've gotten close so many times, but we've always gone back
after the fact and said, 'Forget it.'"
I looked at Jed when his weighed 21-11 and said, "Forget it. We'll go
get a bigger one and blow everybody's mind."
So we decided we'll go back out, do what we do well, have a good time,
and if we break it, we break it.
I think this thing has gotten way out of control. The thing I want to
get across is, let's keep the integrity of it – keep that right there
at all times.
I know there's a lot of people out here that do a lot of fishing at
nighttime, and a lot of BS stuff. Hopefully, this will push people to do
the right thing about it.
Notable
A big question is whether the fish will attempt to spawn again this
spring. Dickerson said he'll be at the lake this week, but he's not sure
if he'll fish. "I'm hearing stories of people coming from Japan to spend
the whole spring here – all kinds of crazy stuff. It'll be
bumper-boats out there. Who knows if she'll come up or not. As big as
she's gotten, I can't believe nobody's caught her on a swimbait yet."
**
bass.
The bass weighed 25-01 on a handheld scale – with evidence captured on
video. However, the fish was foul-hooked from a nest, and Weakley
returned the fish to the water before it could be measured or weighed on
a certified scale. The current world record is 22-04, set by George
Perry in 1932.
In the days that followed, controversy erupted around the catch. The
public wondered why Weakley and friends conferenced prior to bringing
the fish to the dock. Some questioned whether Weakley had intentionally
snagged the fish. Other questions included why the fish wasn't weighed
on a certified scale, and why the trio had first access to the fish that
morning.
In the following Q&A, Weakley tells BassFan the facts from his point of
view. Key points that Weakley stresses a
He did offer to pay Kyle Malmstrom $1,000 on Sun., March 19 for a
30-minute chance at the fish.
He did purchase a camping permit at Dixon, which is in-bounds in
hyper-competitive San Diego.
He did not intentionally snag the fish.
He conferenced before bringing in the fish to both celebrate with his
friends, and discuss the ramifications of such a monumental fish.
He did not intend to obscure the fact that the fish was foul-hooked.
There was no longer a certified scale at Dixon. He said it was removed
when control of the concession stand changed.
He released the fish without measurements and additional photos because
he didn't want to risk killing it.
He won't submit the fish to the International Game Fish Association
(IGFA) for potential world-record certification.
BassFan: What did it feel like when you hooked, then landed the fish?
Weakley: "You know you're fishing for something that's just huge. It was
just a full adrenaline rush. Unfortunately, she got snagged on the side.
It sucks, but it happened.
I caught the fish, brought it in, got it in the boat, saw it was
foul-hooked on the side, and I couldn't even really think straight –
it was such a full adrenaline rush. It was just a really exciting
experience to see a fish that big. To see they can grow that large –
it was pretty neat.
You've said you won't submit the fish to the IGFA for possible
world-record certification. Why not?
I don't want it to be an official, or unofficial, record. The three of
us had put so much time into this. At first, people were pushing the
fact that it could be (a record) because was it intentional or not? If
not, it could be.
I didn't even know those rules even existed. I had no idea they were
there. We knew because it was foul-hooked there would be tons of
controversy. I didn't know the rules, but I didn't think it would count.
I was just stoked to get a 25-pound bass. That's what the video was for
– for us to share as we get older. Everybody wanted a copy, so I gave
it to them. People are saying they'll give me money for it, but I
haven't received one dollar. I don't want to receive a dollar. I've told
everybody, if they send me money, I'll send it to Make-A-Wish.
I have a great job. I really don't think (potential money) would change
my life. I'm very fortunate and blessed for what I have. I'm truly
blessed with great friends, an awesome family, a good job. So I don't
think it would change my life at all.
Even if I hit the lottery, I'd still be going out there with Jed and
Mike. We fish sal****er too – we have our own skiff. In fact, I enjoy
sal****er fishing more than bass fishing.
The thing that's really sad is, I feel this record's really tarnished by
everybody looking at it for this big cash-in they're going to get.
That's why I think the record is so popular.
Not only that, but the fact that people are wondering if (bass) can
actually grow that large. Between the three of us, we know they can get
bigger than that. When you see big fish repeatedly – these fish are
23-, 25-pound fish – you don't see them often, that's for sure. But
you definitely know it when you see something that large.
Now that some of the dust is settling, are you anxious to put the whole
catch behind you?
Totally. I felt I did the right thing by releasing the fish. The fish is
still alive and swimming in there for anybody to have a chance to catch
it – whether it's a 12-year-old boy or a 60-year-old man.
That's what I feel is the most important thing – why I was in such a
rush to get this fish back inside the lake.
Is that why you didn't officially weigh and measure the fish?
To set the record straight, I didn't want a bunch of people taking
photos of it. It's not healthy to pass around the fish. All it takes is
one person to drop it on the dock and that fish dies.
Mike (Winn) has been a charter captain, and he has tons of fish-handling
skills. I was confident to let Mike do the handling of the fish. Again,
the cool thing is the fish is still living. Catch and release is proved
to be a very good thing for a lake.
But I'm pretty much ready to put this behind me. This will probably be
the last interview I wind up doing. I don't want any product
endorsements. If someone sends me free products, I'll give them away to
charity.
The other thing is, I've been very open about giving away the pictures
and video. It doesn't matter to me.
There seems to be some discrepancy about how you got on the water so
early. Could you walk us through that?
People keep talking about that. It's a public thing, and people can go
there and do the same thing. If they get outwitted because we actually
figured that out (the camping permit), how is that our problem? They
have the same right to do the same thing.
San Diego is very competitive – especially for bed-fishing. The more
that I look at it, I'll still always enjoy the sport, and there's some
really good sportsmen out there – like Mike Long, and definitely five
stars for John Kerr.
The fish was foul-hooked – it wasn't properly caught. Therefore, I
believe, after thinking about it, that it should not be the record out
of respect for the rest of the guys like Long and Kerr, who've put
thousands of hours into doing this.
I would like to see people actually try to get the rules down to the
wire. All this speculation – what if you're fishing a private lake?
What if you have access to certain areas that other people don't have?
How is that fair?
So you think the world-record rules need to be refined?
One thing I always discussed is if you're fishing a private lake, and
the general public doesn't have access to it, how can that be considered
a record?
There's a gray area and people definitely need to refine it if we're to
continue to pursue the world record. So when it's caught there's no
controversies behind it. I think the controversy sells, and people want
to stir everything up with it.
After you caught the fish, you went out toward the center of the lake
before coming to the dock. Can you discuss that?
We went to the middle of the lake because it was something we wanted to
experience for the three of us. We were high-fiving each other, and
stoked to see the fish. That's it. Those were our thoughts.
And, "What do we do?" It wasn't because I'm going to turn this fish in
as the official record. That's ridiculous. There were already witnesses
on the docks who saw it was foul-hooked.
People also need to understand, I can't respond to people's questions
that everyone has immediately on the Internet. I don't know how many
calls I got. It was like people were pulling from every limb of your
body.
So to set the record straight, you did not intentionally snag the fish,
and you had no intention of ever obscuring the fact that is was
foul-hooked?
I don't even know how I could answer that. My intention was to catch the
fish. Things happen when you're fishing. Maybe I jumped the gun, and I
set (the hook) out of sequence. Obviously I did. You know how it is when
you're bed-fishing. A big fish can come in and in a second suck in and
blow out a gallon of water. There was also the male to contend with.
When you're fishing that early in the morning, and it's windy, and
rainy, and I pretty much have a major astigmatism, so I can't see that
well as it is. The fish was foul-hooked. I admit it.
Kyle (Malmstrom) told us (on Sunday) that he actually saw the fish, felt
it – actually saw that it picked it up his bait, that he got bit by
it. That's the nature of the bass. That's just how it is.
We're human beings. We're not perfect. You can't always be perfect. The
guys on tour fishing professionally, they do one little thing wrong and
they lose a big fish. It comes out after the fact that maybe you feel
bad, maybe you should have got the net out instead of flipping it up on
the boat.
I'm human. I made a mistake. Unfortunately, it happened on a big fish.
But it's not the only big fish it's happened on.
I've had other big fish eat a jig and I didn't have the drag set right.
Everybody has their fish story about the one that got away. That's the
thing. Everybody wants to know if it was intentionally snagged. It was
not intentional. I was trying to do everything but catch that fish the
way I did.
Kyle Malmstrom told us you offered him $1,000 on Sunday for a chance to
catch the fish. Is that true?
I sure did. Absolutely. Everybody thinks I'm going to stray away from
that question. Jed offered him five rods (for the chance). We saw him
(Kyle) fishing for this fish for a long period of time. He even let me
inside of his boat, so I could take a look at that fish.
The first words out of my mouth when I saw it were, "That's Jed's fish."
(Weakley's fish is believed to be the same fish Jed Dickerson caught in
2003, when it weighed 21-11. – Ed.)
He (Kyle) wanted to borrow my cell phone. His wife was giving him a hard
time for being out there so long, so he made me talk to his wife to
convince her that is was Jed's fish, and that he needs to stay.
He kind of stared at it in water, and we talked back and forth. At that
point, he said he's not going to leave. We decided we'd get a campsite
so we'd be the first ones out.
People are losing sight of the fact that people can actually see a fish
that big on a video and photo. There's so many people here that do
things like poach, and there's people that snag – people who do all
kinds of things. And the nature of the bass – that's how it is.
That's why I tell everybody, I hope it's a 12-year-old boy sitting on
the dock (who catches the official record), so people will give it a
break. If it comes from any professional, they'll always be wondering,
how did you catch it?
Does that controversy have you feeling down?
I'm setting the record straight, telling you right now, it's not the
record, and should not be the record.
It's the same bad beating I watched Jed take. I saw Jed weigh his fish
at 22-09 (in 2003). But by the time the warden got there, it weighed
21-11.
Back then, we were like, "That's ridiculous. All the witnesses said the
fish was 22-09, and (he) should be awarded that." Well, I'm not a
biologist, but from what I hear, these fish can actually lose weight as
they stress out. They regurgitate.
The ranger on the dock watched it spit out food. Jim Dayberry, the
ranger, was like, "That's BS, I saw the thing weigh 22-09. He got
robbed."
He was a member of the BBRC (Big Bass Record Club) at the time. (The
BBRC would have paid $1 million for a new world record. – Ed.) We
could have caused a huge stink. I'm not going to cause a huge stink of
this.
There was a certified scale at Dixon when Jed weighed his fish, but it's
no longer there, right?
Before, back when Jed weighed his fish, there was a certified digital
scale up on the dock. What happened was, the man that owned the dock and
concession stand – his name was Lyle – he got rid of the dock, and
apparently the city owns the rights to the concession stand.
Lyle took his certified scale. But after the fact, (lake superintendent)
Tony Smock told us they have a digital scale in the ranger station.
First of all, I didn't know they had that scale. Second, I was not about
to go toting that fish all over the place. It's not right when there's a
whole circus around with a bunch of people poking at it and lifting it
out of the water.
When Jed weighed his fish, at the end of the day, at least a hundred
people had to pick up Jed's fish just to see it. That's what people
aren't looking at here. People want to bring up a bunch of negative crap
because it sells, and people are jealous.
The thing they shouldn't discount is the fact the fish weighed 25
pounds. There's no doubt it was foul-hooked, and no doubt it shouldn't
qualify, but it weighed 25 pounds.
I looked at some of the comments on BassFan and other sites, and told
the guys from ESPN that it looks to be the public out there is looking
at this like a 50-50 thing – 50% are wanting this thing to be the
world record, then 50% don't.
Mike and Jed and myself talked (Tuesday) night. We said, "We've been
doing this a long time, and we know we have the edge as far as breaking
the record. We've gotten close so many times, but we've always gone back
after the fact and said, 'Forget it.'"
I looked at Jed when his weighed 21-11 and said, "Forget it. We'll go
get a bigger one and blow everybody's mind."
So we decided we'll go back out, do what we do well, have a good time,
and if we break it, we break it.
I think this thing has gotten way out of control. The thing I want to
get across is, let's keep the integrity of it – keep that right there
at all times.
I know there's a lot of people out here that do a lot of fishing at
nighttime, and a lot of BS stuff. Hopefully, this will push people to do
the right thing about it.
Notable
A big question is whether the fish will attempt to spawn again this
spring. Dickerson said he'll be at the lake this week, but he's not sure
if he'll fish. "I'm hearing stories of people coming from Japan to spend
the whole spring here – all kinds of crazy stuff. It'll be
bumper-boats out there. Who knows if she'll come up or not. As big as
she's gotten, I can't believe nobody's caught her on a swimbait yet."
=======
A long read, but maybe it will help clear up some questions some may
have.

John K**

"John Kerr" wrote in message
...
BassFan: What did it feel like when you hooked, then landed the fish?

Sounds about right. Lots of people wanted to be jealous and put it down,
but I figured from what I had read before they were doing everything the
rightest wya they could.




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