The largest bass ever caught? Japanese largemouth may tie world record The world record largemouth caught by George Perry has stood for 77 years. A Japanese angler reportedly has tied the record.

Manabu Kurita reportedly landed a bass weighing slightly less than 22 pounds, 5 ounces, from Japan’s Lake Biwa. Perry’s record is 22 pounds, 4 ounces.

Kurita is sponsored by Deps, a Japanese fishing tackle manufacturer. If his catch holds up, it would be the biggest legally caught, certified largemouth in history. But for the record books, it would be considered a tie with Perry’s catch with the International Game Fish Association.

According to IGFA regulations, for record fish weighing less than 25 pounds (such as all of the black bass subspecies), the pending record must weigh at least 2 ounces more than the existing record. The Japanese fish outweighs Perry’s fish by less than 1 ounce.