World record bass verified

It’s official! After nearly six months of waiting for record keepers to make their decision, a 22-pound, 4-ounce largemouth bass caught in Japan has been declared a world record – tying the legendary record caught 77 years ago by George Perry in Georgia’s Montgomery Lake. The International Game Fish Association announced today that it has recognized Manabu Kurita, 32, of Japan as a “dual holder” for the All-Tackle record for largemouth bass. Kurita caught the lunker northeast of Kyoto in Lake Biwa, Japan’s largest lake on July 2. IGFA officials said they took longer than normal to verify the record to sort through controversy and administer a polygraph test to the man who landed the Holy Grail of freshwater fishing.