Bass Fishing Forum - Westernbass.com

What is the name behind the WR Spot caught at Melones on Saturday?

George

Pretty sure it was Keith Bryan, owner of Powell rods. But it fell short.
TL
FE

It's very odd though isn't it, that the CTT's scaled weighed it in at 10.48, yet on a "certified scale", it weighs 9.90 lb. That's a 1/2 pound difference, a bigger question is, shouldn't ALL tournament scales be "certified"?

Congrat's to Keith on a fish of a life time!

who cares if it weighs a half pound heavy or a pound light.....as long as its the same for everyone!

Cooch wrote:It's very odd though isn't it, that the CTT's scaled weighed it in at 10.48, yet on a "certified scale", it weighs 9.90 lb. That's a 1/2 pound difference, a bigger question is, shouldn't ALL tournament scales be "certified"?

Congrat's to Keith on a fish of a life time!

That's a good point. The problem isn't whether it's used for everyone in an event, it's whether it's operating properly. Otherwise, you might get varying weight within the same tournament.

GW wrote:who cares if it weighs a half pound heavy or a pound light.....as long as its the same for everyone!

Mark's right Gary, if it's not regularly certified, we will always question the accuracy and just don't know how it's performing or if it's performing consistently. Personally, as a tournament angler, I expect that from organizations that run tournaments. Certainly if we all buy into the Catch-n-Release program, a potential World Record or State Record fish, is confirmed right then and there, versus having to go thru the rigors of captivity awaiting a follow up weighing for certification. I git that process when we're out fun fishing, gotta have it certified, but that shouldn't happen with Orgs where we compete and pay to play competitively.

GW wrote:who cares if it weighs a half pound heavy or a pound light.....as long as its the same for everyone!

Sorry, but if I catch a DD in a tournament, I don't want it to weight 9.XX lbs on the tournament scale!

Hey Guys,
Thanks for all of the congrats and the great discussion. Needless to say, the phone hasn't stopped ringing and I am in AWE of what happened about this big fish, and winning the event was GREAT as well, more important to me. She’s a fish of a lifetime and I am happy no matter what.

I must say that Cooch, I agree with your assessment on this because I did everything I could to be sure that this fish lived, World Record or not, I was going to keep her alive no matter what. We did not weigh her in on the official certified scale until about 3 & ½ to 4 hours later and she had coughed up a bunch of stuff in the live well. BIG KUDOS to Ranger Boats and their live well system with PRO AIR, it did the job.
In any event, there is a video of the release and I will post it when I can because I want people to know she’s still OUT THERE!

New Melonies is an AWESOME fishery and we all need to get out and support the CTT when we can, GREAT group of people and Melanie, John and everyone else at Glory Hole are GREAT.
Sincerely,

Keith Bryan

I worked the scales at the weighin for Mike Iljin (aka Homer) when he ran the AC Castaic trail, and he sent his tournament scale in to be recertified before each new season.

Great job Keith and thanks for letting her swim another day. Great job to double G as well, not bad for an old tired fireman

Keith, check your PM when you have time. Thanks, RR

I had the pleasure of fishing with Keith on day two. What a classy guy. He was on the fish. We backed it up with a 6.71 spot on the second day. (Sorry double G). Awesome day of fishing and another added friendship. Keith thanks for an awesome day and tournment. Day one was with another classy guy Bryant Smith. Looks like CTT is putting on some good events. Please come out and support them. Thanks to all. Great job on the release Keith maybe I will catch her in the near future for the record.
Gomez

Mark,

You and I had a BLAST! You are a CLASS ACT as well and I really admire your profession. I had no idea about some of the stuff you have to deal with, WOW.Thanks for all of the nice words as well.

Oh by the way, nice job whipping that 6.71. You were and still are in trouble with GG for that . What a class act GG is as well.

I too had 2 great partners, Charlie Delight and I had fun as well.

See you at the Delta.

Take it EZ.

Keith Bryan

I have sent scales in to be "re-certified" at Equalizer as well. I am not sure how they do it , maybe put a 5 pound weight on it and make sure it says 5.00 not sure.
To be truly Certified at least in California you would need to take it to the Dept of Weights and Measures and get it set and thus it would have a current sticker. I think you can find that sticker on produce scales in the grocery store.(I am not sure where Keith went but I think Glory Hole has one on their deli counter.) Of course with having anything done by the State there is a cost and I am sure a long lead time. I am not sure how moving the scale from event to event affects the certification if it does at all. I have never looked into the cost associated with it but maybe someone can chime in I thougt some of those SoCal trophy hunters and maybe some of the NorCal guys have certified boga grips

Bottom line, the cat if out of the bag now........everyone is fishing Johnny C's lake.........

Actually Melanie the owner of Glory Hole said her scale isn't certified so she had us go to Angels Market which happens to be a grocery store, deli, etc., because they have a certified scale with sticker and all. There was some really cool people from up there that helped us out and knew what to do, it was a cool experience, and I believe one fellow videoed the entire scenario in the store. That fish looked huge draped over this scale where they weigh steak, seafood, etc-----LOL

And yes, what a lake. Even with low water it fished pretty big, I will go back there again.

Keith Bryan

Congrats to the guy who caught the fish. Looked like a monster spot. It sounds like you did the best you could to try and get it weighed. It wouldn't surprise me if someone caught the fish again and it turned out to be the record.

You can get a scale IGFA certified by mailing it to them. They do some tests on it like weighing different weights multiple times to ensure repeatable accuracy at different weights. They put a sticker on it and send it back to you. I had it done on my salter scale a few times. The certification only lasts for one year. So you gotta be pretty in to it to keep maintaining your certified scale.

Even if you have a certified hand held, IGFA has a whole laundry list of other rules you have to follow to get the record and release the fish. For example, the fish can't be weighed on the water. There have to be witnesses. There have to be photos with length and girth clearly visible. You have to follow all local Fish and Game rules. There's probably some other rules I'm forgetting like what color shirt you have to be wearing or what sticker should be on your boat.

The odds of any normal well intentioned person remembering to do all of these things without a checklist or a real good memory is kind of small. Did you know that transporting live bass is illegal in CA (reg 1.63), so even getting to a certified scale with a live bass puts you in violation of local F&G law. And there's virtually no lakes in Northern California with a certified scale at the marina. Stupid right? So for the person who does catch a record bass and releases it, the odds of getting the record approved is probably very small.

My advice for all the record chasers in Nor-Cal... If you don't have a certified scale, put the DFG phone numbers in your cell for your region(s). When you have the fish in your livewell, call and beg someone to come down and get a written approval from that officer to transport the fish to a certified scale. Take photos or video of you with DFG during the weigh in. Get a witness statement from them. Look up the IGFA rules on your phone on the way to the scales. Cross your fingers. Take a lot of photos and enjoy them on your wall no matter what happens.

I didn't know that rule until later (reg 1.63) I understand as to the why for the transportation for relocation, makes sense. I'm happy I released her alive and well.

Either way, I'd like to see scales certified, however, I don't anticipate this occurring again for me.

It will make a great fiberglass mount and the pics are cool.


Thanks for the insight.

Keith Bryan

Nice catch! Strong work releasing it as well! Pretty cool!

Congradulations Keith. backing up your first days catch with another good bag was impressive. You didn't win on that one fish you won cause you were on them.I was out there and you made it look easier than it really was. See you at the next one.

Jon & Phil,

Thanks a lot. It was a GREAT weekend.

I truly hope we get more anglers to come out and fish the CTT. The event was VERY Well run and we finally have an opportunity for a CA circuit BUT----guys need to keep building this thing a grain of sand at a time. All good things take time. Let's hope the participation continues to evolve. To grow the sport we need a good CA circuit like this for the younger guys and the family man to step out there without killing themselves financially.

One of the cool things about this circuit is, if you win one event and fish a total of 3 you are in the TOC, pretty cool. The other nice feature is the off limits, makes it nice as well for guys that work a lot.

Keith Bryan

Keith Bryan wrote:I must say that Cooch, I agree with your assessment on this because I did everything I could to be sure that this fish lived, World Record or not, I was going to keep her alive no matter what. We did not weigh her in on the official certified scale until about 3 & ½ to 4 hours later and she had coughed up a bunch of stuff in the live well. BIG KUDOS to Ranger Boats and their live well system with PRO AIR, it did the jod. Sincerely, Keith Bryan

Awe Keith, I'm so sorry to hear that! So if that fish coughed up a bunch of stuff, maybe the scales weren't off at all. That blows, just further supports my claim earlier that ALL tournament Orgs should have their scales certified. Not only to assure their scale is functioning properly, but to support a situation like your's where a Record fish is involved. In this case, it cost you a possible world record catch and cost the Org a bunch of marketing hoopla that certainly would have benefited them as well.

With all that said, still an awesome catch sir, congrats on that fish and the tournament win!

"ALL tournament Orgs should have their scales certified"


..........I bet there is an Org or 2 out there right now figuring out how to charge the anglers another $10 a piece or more for a "certified scale fee".............

GW wrote:"ALL tournament Orgs should have their scales certified"


..........I bet there is an Org or 2 out there right now figuring out how to charge the anglers another $10 a piece or more for a "certified scale fee".............

Considering what great publicity it would be for an Org. to have a world record caught in one of their tournaments, getting their scales recertified before each season starts is a cheap investment.

What a fish! I was shaking when Keith brought it up. I have been told that the IFGA will allow the scales to be certified after the fact. I contacted them this week and am waiting on a response. I will do everything in my power to make it happen. I truly believe that is the largest spotted bass ever caught.

As for the calibration/certification issue, I borrowed this particular set of scales and did not think of having it done.

The Motherlode treated us great and I am convinced that Melones is the best spotted bass fishery in the world. We weighed in a number of beautiful 6 lb. plus spots over the weekend.

Congrats Keith on a great win and an incredible fish!

Bill Cook
CTT

Cooch
Yeah no doubt, but no matter what, It was and still is a fish of a Lifetime for me.

Bill---thanks and that makes two of us that had the shakes that day, man o man. After your post I did see the IGFA website and it does look like that’s correct but who knows. I'm along for the ride so whatever you want to do is fine by me and again, let’s get more folks out to fish the CTT. I know there are lots of guys that want to fish that I've not yet seen out there yet, C'MON Guys, let’s GROW THIS THING!

Keith Bryan

It was such a thrill to be part of the excitment- we have been waiting for Melones to produce that world record spot- glad it happened to such a great guy and during such a well-run tournament.

It is very costly to certify a scale- we don't have one at Glory Hole Sports (we don't sell food by the pound so we don't need it). We had pre-arranged with our local grocery store and our post office to be ready when a big fish came in, because we knew it was going to happen. We were devastated that Keith's fish didn't weigh at Angels Food Mart what it did at the weigh-in- proof of how fast a fish can lose weight.

It is not legal to transport a live fish- the law is in place to prevent the spread of species and disease. But Keith- if you get hit with fines, we will take up a collection to pay them! No one wants to see an amazing fish like that killed for a record. You did the right thing and we are behind you all the way, buddy!

Melanie and the gang at Glory Hole Sports

CDFW laws are ridiculous, and I could care less what they are. If I catch a potential world record I will transport it alive to wherever I see fit and as far as I have to drive it. And if some warden, not able to make a rational, logical decision and who clearly has a problem interpreting the "intent of the law", wants to write me a ticket for that then so be it.

Update - As of yesterday's notification by IGFA, the scales CTT used have been sent to the IGFA offices in Florida, and have been certified as "perfect" by the Records Director at IGFA following their testing.

So, IGFA has entered the official weight of the fish as 10.48 pounds because of the accuracy of the original scales, as well as the time in between the two weigh-ins.

In other words, the fish is under consideration for World Record status by IGFA, and following a mandatory two month waiting period, all of the evidence will be examined and a decision will be made as to whether to award the fish World Record status.

It is now a waiting game.

Congratulations to Keith, and to all of our state as having a World Record bass of any species remain here is an amazing thing, and a true testament to the quality of our fisheries.

DanO