ESCONDIDO, Calif., March 22, 2006
Giant Bass May Have Been Caught Before
25-Pounder Hooked In Calif. Also May Be Biggest Ever Taken
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Play CBS Video Video Man Hooks 25-Pound Bass Mac Weakley caught what could be a world-record largemouth bass March 20 in Escondido, Calif. The fish weighed 25 pounds, but Weakly needs official approval to see if he beats the 1932 record catch.
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Mac Weakley with his prized catch (CBS)
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Mac Weakley says he caught a 25.1-pound largemouth bass on Monday at Dixon Lake in Escondido, in San Diego County. After weighing it on a hand-held digital scale, he released it.
Weakley plans to pursue the record, even though the fish was foul-hooked, meaning the hook lodged in the fish's body, below the dorsal fin on the fish's side in this case, not in its mouth. He says it wasn't snagged intentionally.
Weakley also failed to measure the bass, another potential problem for Weakley officially being dubbed the record-holder.
But Jason Schratwieser of the International Game Fish Association said the group would consider the catch for a world record.
The biggest bass on record weighed 22 pounds, 4 ounces. It was caught in 1932 by George W. Perry at Georgia's Montgomery Lake.
To watch Weakley describe how he did it, click here.
According to CBS affiliate KFMB in San Diego, Weakley was fishing with 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 Dickerson caught, and that was also caught by another fisherman as a 20-pounder in 2001.
They say the fish has the same identifying black dot under its right gill plate.
©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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