In the wake of Mac Weakley's potential world-record largemouth catch from California's Lake Dixon, things are developing rapidly. Here's an update on how the situation sits right now.

Note that three anglers are often referenced throughout this update: Weakley, Jed Dickerson and Mike Winn. The three are friends who work as a team in pursuit of the world-record largemouth.



Weakley Won't Submit

Although it's believed that Weakley's catch – which weighed 25-01 on a handheld scale – almost surely eclipsed George Perry's 22-04 mark set in 1932, it likely would never be recognized as the new world record.

The fish was foul-hooked, and was returned to the water. Weakley last night told the San Diego Union-Tribune that he wouldn't submit a world-record application to the International Game Fish Association (IGFA).

"To tell you the truth, the three of us have been talking to friends and family the last day and Mike (Winn) has been checking the Internet, and we're seeing that it's 50-50 in terms of support for the catch standing as a world record,” Weakley told the Union-Tribune.

He added: "It seems 50 percent feel it should stand as a record and 50 percent say it shouldn't. That's why Jed (Dickerson), Mike and I have decided not to submit it as a world record to the IGFA. We don't want to go out breaking the record with so many people doubting it. We want it to be 100 percent – or more realistically 90 percent – being behind it with no controversy. We plan to be back with a world-record bass everyone will get behind."



There appeared initial questions over whether the bass would pass IGFA muster, since the IGFA disqualifies fish that are intentionally foul-hooked. It's not known whether this fish was intentionally foul-hooked – Weakley said it wasn't – there appears to be some breathing room there.

But the IGFA also DQs fish for a "failure to comply with equipment or angling regulations."

BassFan spoke with California Dept. of Fish and Game (DFG) associate fisheries biologist Walt Beer. He made it clear that the DFG had received no paperwork from Weakley for potential state-record certification. But he also said the fish would not qualify as a California record.

"I only know what I've read in a few news stories," Beer said. "But the angler indicated he foul-hooked the fish and weighed it on a handheld scale. Due to both of those factors, it would not qualify as a California state record."

California fishing regulations state that fish may be "taken" only by angling, with angling defined as: "To take fish by hook and line with the line held in the hand, or with the line attached to a pole or rod held in the hand or closely attended in such manner that the fish voluntarily takes the bait or lure in its mouth."

Weakley captured the fish and possessed it at the dock, which Beer said is a regulation violation. That would seem to disqualify it from IGFA certification.

Beer noted: "Our enforcement people have interpreted 'take' to us on other occasions as when the fish is rendered into your control, you have taken that fish. Since it was foul-hooked, he did not possess that fish by legal means."

Still, the IGFA would consider the application, since it initially considers all applications.

IGFA conservation director Jason Schratwieser told BassFan: "Absolutely, we would certainly review it. Like anything else, we'd take the time and look at it."

About foul-hooking, Schratwieser noted: "We do explicitly state that a catch will be disqualified if an angler intentionally tried to foul-hook a fish. But oftentimes, there are gray areas. There could be something to the effect of a fish cannot be possessed or harvested, but does that mean it can't be photographed or documented? That's certainly something we'll investigate (if Weakley's application is submitted)."

Schratwieser also said that the IGFA could certify the scale Weakley used to weigh his fish, if Weakley's application was submitted.

'Kyle' confirms story

Yesterday, BassFan published an interview with Steve Barnett, who witnessed Mac Weakley's catch of the potential new world-record bass. In that story, Barnett referenced an angler named Kyle who fished for the monster on Sun., March 19 – the day before it was caught.

That angler was 34-year-old Kyle Malmstrom of Encinitas, Calif. What follows is a brief interview with him about what took place.

BassFan: As we understand it, you originally located the fish on Sunday, but couldn't hook it. Is that correct?

Malmstrom: Yes. I got on the lake right off the bat. Jed (Dickerson) went south, and I went north. I swung around and located her just after 7:00. She was pretty spooky, but she was definitely a giant. I figured that out right off the bat.

I knew she wanted to come up, so I just sat there and guarded her. Then I kind of went over to the side of the handicap area and tooled around for a few hours until the sun came up. Then I cruised back over and she was right on top of the nest.

Is that when you started fishing for her?

I tied up to the dock, anchored myself in, then stood there and watched her for quite some time to see how she was behaving, then I started throwing in there. From that point on, I threw in there for rest of the day.

She was a big, black fish and there was no doubt she was in. She'd come in, nose at (my bait) and look at it, but she was not angling too much. She might have hit it one time, but I didn't know.

I had a pretty good sight-fishing thing going, and I didn't want to hook the male. There were clouds and a little wind, which made it a battle (later on), but I had a good 5 hours of sight-fishing.

What did you throw?

I threw jigs, swimbaits – everything. She'd look at it, then after a while back off. Then I'd wait, and she'd come back in. You could just tell that Monday was going to be the day.

Someone who witnessed Weakley catch the fish next day said you were offered money to stay off the fish. Is that true?

Jed (Dickerson) figured out what I was fishing for. He took off and Mac (Weakley) and Mike (Winn) showed up, and Jed showed back up. It's true that he (Weakley) did offer me $1,000 to fish for the fish for 30 minutes. I was like, "No way. That's not going to happen. I know what I've got here."

He offered that to me around 1:00. Conditions were still glassy – you could still see her. The three of those guys stood on the dock and watched me for the rest of the day. At about 2:00, the wind picked up so I just blind-fished for the rest of the day.

Did you swing on the fish at all?

I could feel the male hitting it. He was tight – right on the center of the bed. She was off the deeper edge. Throughout the course of the day, I probably made three or four swings at her. Maybe three. I wasn't too into the possible snagging idea.

I don't want to get into the politics of what happened on Monday morning either. Personally, I don't think they tried to snag it.

I made a good solid effort at it, then they closed down the lake. Unfortunately, I was unable to return the following day. I had to work, so I had to cross my fingers. (He's a financial and estate-planning consultant.–Ed.)

What was going through your head that night, after you left the fish?

I've been on the hunt for the record for 4 solid years. Finally I had my chance. Now I'm reliving 50 different things that I could have tried different.

I can say I actually got to fish for it though, and it was quite a knee-knocker for several hours.

Burke on Sowbelly Content

The exploits of Weakley and his friends Dickerson and Winn were chronicled in a recent book by Monte Burke titled Sowbelly. Here's what Burke had to say about Weakley's catch.

BassFan: You recently wrote about the whole world-record scene in the San Diego area, and included Weakley and his friends in your book. How did you feel when you heard the news about the catch?

Burke: I think it's pretty cool that characters I spent a lot of time with caught such a big fish. There's no doubt it's a tremendous fish. But to put it bluntly, they'll have a hard time getting it to pass muster with the IGFA.

Dutton Publishing
Photo: Dutton Publishing

Sowbelly, by Monte Burke, chronicled the exploits of Weakley, Winn and Jed Dickerson.

And you actually covered the same fish in your book, which Dickerson caught in 2003.

In the book, Mike Long claimed he had seen it floating. Jed and those guys thought it baloney. He was saying that to keep people off the lake. Jed's 100% certain this is the same fish. The fish was sort of a character in the book too. It's kind of fun.

What's the scene like at Dixon?

I've spent time on that lake – with those guys and other folks. It's super-competitive. People do run down the dock to get in the boat. And people are competitive if you find a fish. They jockey to get to the spots. Mike Long and Mac literally almost ran into each other. So it's a crazy place to begin with.

But this is part of what makes this record chase so cool. In one way, this story (of Weakley's catch) encompasses everything I wrote about in Sowbelly. It's a crazy competition. Whenever somebody catches a big bass, there's always controversy. And the next thing that always follows is mystery.

As an author, is it gratifying to see your subject brought into the spotlight, so to speak?

I'm a big fan of the Perry record – the intrigue. In this age when you can look up anything on Google, it's a mystery that people are forced to believe in, or not believe in.

But I'm a big fan of the record, and part of me would be kind of bummed to see that go by the wayside. But another part of me is very excited that the guys that I profiled – that I spent a lot of time with – did this.

It shows the passion and dedication I saw right up-close. And I'm glad I got the book out before all this happened. I'd thought about holding it off until the 75th anniversary of the record (next year). I'm glad I didn't do that.

Notable

> Winn, speaking on behalf of Weakley, did not return calls from BassFan for an interview. Weakley's story will be published when he can be reached.

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