Santa Monica Man Lands Record Bass at Lake Castaic
A 21-pound 12-ounce largemouth bass caught at Lake Castaic Tuesday is a state record and might be the second largest caught anywhere.
Mike Arujo of Santa Monica caught the fish from a boat early in the afternoon at Outhouse Cove on the Fish Arm of the V-shaped lake off Interstate 5. He used a six-inch Renosky Super Shad lure in a rainbow trout pattern and 15-pound test line. The bass was 28 1/2 inches long with a 26 1/2-inch girth.
The all-tackle world record of 22-4 has stood for nearly 59 years. Recognized by the International Game Fish Assn., it was caught by George W. Perry at Montgomery Lake in Georgia on June 2, 1932. The IGFA could not say whether any fish within the eight-ounce differential between Perry’s and Arujo’s fish had been caught.
The former California record was 21-3 by Raymond Easley at Lake Casitas near Ventura on March 4, 1980.
Arujo said he saw the fish swirling on the surface and cast to the spot. The fish, apparently preparing to spawn, struck and was landed “fairly easily,” Arujo said, in about five minutes.
He immediately returned to the dock and drove to the town of Castaic to weigh the fish on a certified scale at Galleon’s Delicatessen.
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