Is this the largest bass ever caught ?

• I got a phone call from my mate Graham Hill last night, and I knew something was up straight away from the excited tone of his voice. A friend of his had been out bass fishing yesterday, from the same location where Graham caught his monster from last weekend (see here for the report), and this guy has gone and caught a truly, seriously, monster bass, the kind of fish that virtually every single one of us are never going to see in our lifetime...........

• Graham's mate Brian caught a bass that had a length of 93cm, and that is the only measurement I know of so far, but even that length potentially puts the fish close to (or even over) the 20lb mark. What is most impressive to me is the fact that this magnificent fish was released unharmed, so the angler in question is never going to know what kinds of records he might have broken. You have my utmost respect. The fish was also shore caught remember, and was taken while lure fishing - a staggering achievement, and I am just so pleased that the guy took it upon himself to let the fish swim away again. That bit blows me away. I know I would do the same thing myself, and I am not about to damn anybody for wanting to take a potential record fish and have it officially weighed and identified for the record books, but it really is an admirable thing to do to catch a fish like that and make sure it swims away again afterwards. He knows what he has achieved.

• These are the only details I know so far, but I will put up more here as and when I hear more about it. Graham tells me that he has seen some photos of the massive fish (he was not out fishing himself), and that it was a seriously fat and good conditioned bass. Just how big was it ? Graham and Pat have both been saying to me for ages now that they believe there are record size bass swimming around the south east Irish coastline, and with all that I have seen and heard, I have never doubted them for a second. A fish this size simply proves once again how productive this stretch of coast really is - ok, not always are the conditions going to be correct for awesome fishing (nowhere on earth fishes well all the time), but if you hit it right then I know of no other place like it.

• It is worth reading about bass lengths and weights here and here. Whatever this monster bass from yesterday actually weighed, it is a hell of a thing to have done. A lure caught, shore caught bass of this size is something else, and the particular place they are catching these fish from has potential for some even better fishing, and potentially all through the year as well if they get the conditions. The mind boggles.

• As for the rugby yesterday, I am in complete shock - more thoughts to come when I have come to terms with the result. Gutted is an understatement.