World Record Trophy Bass Fishing

A fishy tale about the world record rod

By James Hall

Editor, Bassmaster Magazine

Kurita's rod and reel combo

Manabu Kurita caught the 22-pound, 5-ounce bass on a Deps Sidewinder Flipping Edition rod and Shimano Antares DC 7-LV reel.

Every angler has a rod and reel that just seems to catch more fish than the rest of the combos in his or her boat. Manabu Kurita, catcher of the pending world record largemouth, is no different.

On his lucky rod (Deps Sidewinder Flipping Edition) and reel (Shimano Antares DC 7-LV), Kurita had landed an 18 1/2-pound largemouth last year by catapulting a 12-inch Mother swimbait (handcrafted by Roman Made). And what's more, he caught the pending world record fish on this combination. But perhaps what makes it most lucky is the fact that it was still in his possession when the 22-pound, 5-ounce bass swallowed his sunfish on July 2 of this year.

Just one month earlier, the rod and reel were lying on the bottom of Lake Biwa.

In late May, Kurita was using the Deps/Shimano combo to fish a live ayu on Lake Biwa. Ayu is a popular food fish (about the size of a sardine) in Japan during the summer months, and bass forage on this fish spring through fall. After casting the weightless live bait, he had set the rod down while working on some tackle. While not paying attention, a bass ate the live ayu, dragging overboard his favorite rod and reel combination. He watched it sink to the bottom of Lake Biwa, which at its deepest point is 300 feet.

Kurita

He assumed it was lost forever.

However, almost one month later, he was fishing near the same spot when he noticed a large bass floating in the lake. He trolled up to the dead, double-digit fish, to find a line coming out of its mouth. After pulling on the line for several minutes, Kurita's lucky rod and reel appeared from the bottom of the lake.

"It was scratched up from where the bass dragged it around the lake bottom, but it still works perfectly! It really is lucky," Kurita grinned.

Hard to argue that fact.

Such a story !!! My tackle is so bad, he rust even in a dry time

Destiny strike again, Manabu is married to his rod, he can't loose it

Ive fished some rods from the bottom of a few lakes and those stories were pretty amazing but nothing like that WOW

Well How about all these amazing things and still no response from thr IGFA.!

Ya its a disgrace but I think patience will deliver the right outcome. I don't see how they can deny the application and the fact that they haven't by now is a good sign. It will be coming soon I have faith in that.

Now that's what I call a fishy story.  lol

The IGFA officials are morons! Just my opinion..

Its only a matter of time now that hall and bassmaster have given their endorsement!!

Congratulations to Manabu Kurita. He is a true trophy hunter dedicated to the pursuit of world record bass like no other. I am proud to say that in the past year he has become one of my closest friends, Another person who helps him a great deal but receives no real credit is Reika Ishaguro who designs his website, communicates his thoughts and wishes to me and others, and also is a great angler in her own right. Manabu and Reika are good friends and you can talk with both of them at my website at Northeast Bass Fishing For Trophy Bass. http://delawaretrophybass.com

Tight lines, and best of luck to all trophy hunters the world over on the next world record. Steve Owner