Will the World Record Florida Bass Ever Reside in Florida?

As nearly all Floridians know, their beloved Florida bass and its supercharged genetics have given the Sunshine State what is arguably the best bass fishing in the world. From famous waters like Lake Okeechobee to urban ponds in Orlando to streams in the Florida panhandle, there’s always a world-class bass lurking nearby, or so it seems.

With Florida bass genetics spreading across the U.S. and the world in the past several decades, the landscape of bass fishing has been changing over time as Texas, California, Alabama and even Japan now support the kind of world-class fishing found for generations on the Florida peninsula.

But the Florida bass is also a fish of mystery, and thanks to recent scientific data confirmed by biologists, the fish has now altered the International Game Fish Association record book in an ongoing saga that dates back to the legendary George Perry world-record largemouth bass caught more than 90 years ago.

In that long winding tale, most Floridians remember that Perry's world-record largemouth bass was taken at Georgia's Lake Montgomery on June 2, 1932. Not too far from the Florida/Georgia line—the map version, not the country/pop music version—that hallowed fish has been caught up in record book controversy almost since the day it was caught and later declared a world record. Few, if any, photos, and a fish eaten for dinner have a way of doing that.

And now, there’s a new twist that writes a whole new chapter in the story of Perry’s big fish, a twist that has recently scrambled the International Game Fish Association’s rankings of the world’s biggest largemouth bass. 

Let me explain. As most bass history buffs know, Perry's IGFA world record—lauded by some, scoffed at by others down through the nine plus decades since it was caught in the southern portions of the Peach State—was tied on July 2, 2009 when Manabu Kurita caught a 22-pound, 5-ounce largemouth while fishing in Japan's Lake Biwa. 

While that was actually one ounce heftier than Perry's 22-pound, 4-ounce Georgia monster caught back in the Great Depression, it wasn’t enough to satisfy an IGFA rule that states “To replace a record for a fish weighing less than 11.33 kilograms (25 pounds), the replacement must weigh at least 56.69 grams (2 ounces) more than the existing record.”

Since Kurita’s largemouth bass didn’t do that, the IGFA considered Perry’s bass and Kurita’s bass in a statistical dead-heat that left both fish tied atop the IGFA World Record Book as the world record largemouth bass for the past decade and a half.

Until a few days ago, that is, since Perry’s bass now sits alone at the top of the IGFA record book and Kurita’s bass also sits alone atop the organization’s records. 

How is that possible?

Perry’s bass is now the record book king for the IGFA’s Largemouth Bass (Micropterus nigricans) category, Kurita’s behemoth now sits alone too in IGFA’s Florida Bass (Micropterus salmoides) category.

The pathway for the changing of the guard began last summer when the IGFA announced via a June 13, 2024 news release that there would be some changes in its record book thanks to scientific study.

"In February 2024, IGFA staff and biologist Dr. Andrew Taylor of the University of North Georgia co-authored a scientific article in the American Fisheries Society journal Fisheries, titled “Updating Angling Records to Advance Sport Fish Conservation: A Case Study of IGFA’s Black Bass World Records,” noted the IGFA. “This groundbreaking study reviewed the current science related to black bass genetics to update IGFA record keeping for this important species group.”

That cited study revealed that there were distinct identities of the Florida bass and the largemouth bass, black-bass species that were often indistinguishable from one another without genetic testing.

And that realization would cause a change in the IGFA’s record-keeping system.

“Effective immediately, Florida bass (Micropterus salmoides) are eligible for line class, tippet class, junior, and length records under the category: 'bass, largemouth (Micropterus nigricans/salmoides),' ” stated the IGFA news release. “Genetic testing will not be required for submissions in this category. While the standing All-Tackle Record for largemouth bass (Micropterus nigricans) will remain unchanged, any new All-Tackle record submissions for these species will require genetic verification. Because the genetic testing process varies by region, anglers interested in submitting a potential world record should contact their corresponding local agency for additional information.”

Last July, the IGFA issued another news release that proclaimed the first world record under the Florida bass listing, a 15-pound, 13-ounce Florida bass pulled from Texas' Lake O.H. Ivie by Kyle Hall on March 21, 2024.

"With this fish Kyle has set the IGFA All-Tackle World Record for the species. This is the first world record submission for Florida bass (Micropterus salmoides) since IGFA reorganized black bass records to match modern genetic classifications," noted the Miami-based group. "Kyle was able to work with the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife to provide the results of a genetic study confirming the identity of his record bass."

All is well, right? Well, not for long, as it turned out.

One veteran bass fishing observer, Ken Duke, had the foresight to see the potential turmoil coming to the record book. In an article by Duke and Josh Sakmar, co-authors of the Dec. 2024 Bassmaster.com story "New bass, new record, old problems," the pair asked a couple of rhetorical questions.

Concerning Hall's newly minted record, the pair wrote "A new Florida bass world record has been certified by IGFA out of Texas at just 15 pounds, 13 ounces. Does anyone believe that should be the standard bearer?"

And concerning Kurita's longstanding record, they queried "And what if — stay with us here! — what if we had DNA from Kurita’s 22-5 bass out of Japan in 2009 that proves his giant had Florida genes? What might that do to the apple cart?"

Well, as it turns out, the answer to that question was enough to upset that apple cart because DNA from Kurita's 22-5 bass did in fact exist. Hall’s big Florida bass remained at the top of the new IGFA category until it was replaced recently by Kurita’s bass. 

Why the change? Lab work, that's why.

For the trail of that particular part of this world record tale, let me turn to Texan Steve Bardin, a private fisheries biologist, who reported on his Facebook page in January 2025 some findings that would soon pave the way for the most change in the IGFA bass record book.

"If you are into the science and history of the world record largemouth bass, the Bass After Dark show last week dove deep into the Manabu Kurita's 22 lbs 5 oz fish," stated Bardin in his social media post. "In the episode we cover a genetic study of a sample taken off of the skin mount of the fish. The results were announced from FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute and Redhills Fish Hatchery… and maybe not surprisingly they found the Kurita fish to be a pure Florida Largemouth Bass. So pure it could have qualified into the Florida hatchery program!!!!"

Because of those findings, the Kurita bass was soon on the path to become the world record Florida bass in the IGFA records. And after the Kurita bass changed its IGFA record book address, the Perry bass has once again become the sole holder of the IGFA world record mark for the largemouth bass category.

Is all of that as clear as mud in a Florida swamp? It is, but it also brings even more questions than answers.

Here's one: With the proliferation of Florida bass genetics across the country and globe, will the world-record Florida bass ever come from Florida?

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