Northwest Fishing Reports

I have come to the conclusion that Japan will probably not allow the big bass to become a record (JGFA). There is just too much (political) at stake, with the recent push to make all of Japan "catch and kill" for bass and bluegill. The Japanese government has spent millions of dollars on this program, which includes supplementing the income of the commercial fisherman at Lake Biwa.
> Letting Mr. Kurita's fish become the new Japan record (JGFA) will send the wrong type of message to the taxpayer, and draw unwanted attention to the positive aspects of bass fishing.
>
> Here is where we stand:
>
> I mentioned before a about the distance from the bridge restriction ( the bass was caught near the Biwako Bridge)--It seems that his boat was not within the restricted area, but now they are saying they are going to DQ him because he CAST into the restricted area (which is not legally a "restricted" area anyway). I don't understand? Lake Mission Viejo has a 20 foot from the dock no fishing zone, but that means your boat must not be withing 20 feet when fishing, not your cast. Another example would be the buoy line at Perris, or Casitas. As long as your boat is outside the buoy line, you can cast wherever you want.
> This is weak.
>
> What is weaker is that they are now saying the he "broke the law" to catch the fish due to his bait (a bluegill). Bluegill are not illegal to be used for bait (nobody cares), but they are illegal to release back into the lake alive. The bass "No Release" law includes bluegill and everybody is aware of this due to posted signs all over the lake. But they are now saying that Mr. Kurita "released" a bluegill back into the lake when he pinned it on his hook, and tossed it in front of the giant bass.
>
> This is really pushing it, IMO.
>
> What they don't know, and I just found out today, is that Mr. Kurita is registered, like I am, to be able to release bass and bluegill.
>
> Even so, I sure they will make up something else; they do not want this fish to become a record, because:
> As of two days ago, the paperwork has not even been submitted to the IGFA.
> JGFA is saying that it must pass their scrutiny before he is "allowed" to submit to the IGFA; it should not be this way, as the IGFA is a separate entity.
> It seems it is catch 22 for Mr. Kurita.
>
> There is so much misinformation going around that it is sad, at best. The same type of people that said the Biwa Lake grow fat on all the salmon (there are none) are giving opinions on stuff they know nothing about.
>
> Hope all is going well for you,
> Capt. G

tnj8222 wrote:Yeah way old news. It was also caught in a restricted area.

Bob Johansen wrote:Well my excuse for being so far behind the times is that I'm very old. I'm so old I think happy hour is a nap -- And, I was already fishing when George Perry caught the world record on June 2, 1932. I don't even twitter or tweet or twistle.

Your awesome Bob! Thanks for the laugh.





fishnislife

SONNN wrote:It was caught on a live bluegill. The problem with it is that it is illegal to NOT keep bass or bluegill from that lake, so him using a live BG for bait technically is putting it back into the water alive. Retarded, but I guess they want to rid that lake of bass and BGs. I havent heard anything about restricted waters though, im still confused about that

Bob Johansen wrote:Well my excuse for being so far behind the times is that Im very old. I'm so old I think happy hour is a nap -- And, I was already fishing when George Perry caught the world record on June 2, 1932. I don't even twitter or tweet or twistle.

tnj8222 wrote:

SONNN wrote:It was caught on a live bluegill. The problem with it is that it is illegal to NOT keep bass or bluegill from that lake, so him using a live BG for bait technically is putting it back into the water alive. Retarded, but I guess they want to rid that lake of bass and BGs. I havent heard anything about restricted waters though, im still confused about that

How could you miss it. Go read about this on nwbasser in general. It. Was denied in the end because of where it was caught, still confused sonn?

tnj8222 wrote:

SONNN wrote:It was caught on a live bluegill. The problem with it is that it is illegal to NOT keep bass or bluegill from that lake, so him using a live BG for bait technically is putting it back into the water alive. Retarded, but I guess they want to rid that lake of bass and BGs. I havent heard anything about restricted waters though, im still confused about that

How could you miss it. Go read about this on nwbasser in general. It. Was denied in the end because of where it was caught, still confused sonn?

KGF–Closed areas/Lake Biwa: In California reservoirs there are closed areas primarily for water quality concerns or safety. On occasion there are closed areas for spawn protection. But in some cases, it is allowed to cast into closed areas as long as the boat does not go into the closed zone. Anything special about the closed areas at Lake Biwa?

OKUMURA–For the most part, bass fisherman in Japan refer to the tournament rules when fishing throughout Japan. The tournament rules state that for safety purposes the Biwako Ohashi (Lake Biwa bridge), and the Konoe Bridge are restricted from fishing. This is to avoid trouble with the commercial fisherman who have their nets out in these areas. Also areas around marina’s, piers, or floating docks set by Shiga Prefecture are forbidden for fishing.

What is weaker is that they are now saying the he "broke the law" to catch the fish due to his bait (a bluegill). Bluegill are not illegal to be used for bait (nobody cares), but they are illegal to release back into the lake alive. The bass "No Release" law includes bluegill and everybody is aware of this due to posted signs all over the lake. But they are now saying that Mr. Kurita "released" a bluegill back into the lake when he pinned it on his hook, and tossed it in front of the giant bass.

What they don't know, and I just found out today, is that Mr. Kurita is registered, like I am, to be able to release bass and bluegill.

I am one of the few that can LEGALLY catch and release bass at Biwako. That requiers that you fish professionally, which I do poorly, and have a 100,000,000 Yen (about a million dollars US) Liability insurance / bond policy AND register with the prefectural government police.

Even so, I sure they will make up something else]

So its still up in the air/less likely by the day to become a record officially at this time. Not to say his info is/isn't 2nd hand either, but at least he is there, speaking to the people involved, and fishing the lake involved constantly.

bpm2000 wrote:

tnj8222 wrote:

SONNN wrote:It was caught on a live bluegill. The problem with it is that it is illegal to NOT keep bass or bluegill from that lake, so him using a live BG for bait technically is putting it back into the water alive. Retarded, but I guess they want to rid that lake of bass and BGs. I havent heard anything about restricted waters though, im still confused about that

How could you miss it. Go read about this on nwbasser in general. It. Was denied in the end because of where it was caught, still confused sonn?

That NW basser thread is pretty uninformative and full of hearsay.

The "facts":

-He cast into the restricted area but was not actually fishing in/on it, so that is no longer a ruling/legal concern (even though they are suppressing the record because of it). Read my quote above. Perhaps Japan has a different set of rules to go through, but according to the Kramer Gone Fishing blog (Okumura is the Deps owner, sponsor of Kurita):

KGF–Closed areas/Lake Biwa: In California reservoirs there are closed areas primarily for water quality concerns or safety. On occasion there are closed areas for spawn protection. But in some cases, it is allowed to cast into closed areas as long as the boat does not go into the closed zone. Anything special about the closed areas at Lake Biwa?

OKUMURA–For the most part, bass fisherman in Japan refer to the tournament rules when fishing throughout Japan. The tournament rules state that for safety purposes the Biwako Ohashi (Lake Biwa bridge), and the Konoe Bridge are restricted from fishing. This is to avoid trouble with the commercial fisherman who have their nets out in these areas. Also areas around marina’s, piers, or floating docks set by Shiga Prefecture are forbidden for fishing.

they go loosely by the tournament rules. Still unclear if that means they can cast into the area or not, but Capt G above seems to think this is the case.

-They are trying to DQ the fish by saying he illegally "released" a bluegill back into the lake by using it as live bait.

What is weaker is that they are now saying the he "broke the law" to catch the fish due to his bait (a bluegill). Bluegill are not illegal to be used for bait (nobody cares), but they are illegal to release back into the lake alive. The bass "No Release" law includes bluegill and everybody is aware of this due to posted signs all over the lake. But they are now saying that Mr. Kurita "released" a bluegill back into the lake when he pinned it on his hook, and tossed it in front of the giant bass.

-However, he is legally allowed to do so.

What they don't know, and I just found out today, is that Mr. Kurita is registered, like I am, to be able to release bass and bluegill.

From his blog:

I am one of the few that can LEGALLY catch and release bass at Biwako. That requiers that you fish professionally, which I do poorly, and have a 100,000,000 Yen (about a million dollars US) Liability insurance / bond policy AND register with the prefectural government police.

-It has to pass through JGFA before anything can happen, unfortunately:

Even so, I sure they will make up something else]

So its still up in the air/less likely by the day to become a record officially at this time. Not to say his info is/isn't 2nd hand either, but at least he is there, speaking to the people involved, and fishing the lake involved constantly.