World Record Bass

Approximately 3 1/2 miles from this spot, on June 2, 1932, George W. Perry, a 19-year old farm boy, caught what was to become America's most famous fish. The twenty-two pound four ounce largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoldes) exceeded the existing record by more than two pounds has has retained the world record for more than fifty years. Perry and his friend, J.E. Page, were fishing in Montgomery Lake, a slough off the Ocmulgee River, not for trophies but to bring food to the table during those days of the great depression. The largemouth bass was 32 1/2 inches in length and 28 1/2 inches in girth and was caught on Perry's only lure, a Creek Chub Fintail Shiner in Silver Shiner finish. The weight and measurements were taken, recorded and notarized in Helena, Georgia. Perry's only reward was seventy-five dollars in merchandise as first prize in Field and Stream Magazine's fishing contest. The longstanding record is one of the reasons that the largemouth bass was made Georgia's Official State Fish. Montgomery Lake is today part of the Department of Natural Resources' Horse Creek Wildlife Management Area.