By Paul Lebowitz

George Perry's 22-lb., 4-oz. world record Georgia largemouth is looking mighty lonely atop the record books. Bass from California are nipping at its heels.

Of the top 25 heaviest largemouth catches certified by the International Game Fish Association, more than 20 have come from the clear, heavily pressured waters of the Golden State. Only a handful of the current top 25 were caught in the warm, productive lakes of the Southeast. The irony? California's lunkers trace their genetic history back to a hatchery in Pensacola.

Why do some of the Golden State's Florida transplants grow to prodigious size?

"I can sum it up in just three reasons," said Dennis Lee, a senior supervising fishery biologist for the California Department of Fish and Game. Lee administers the California Fish and Game Commission's database of record catches, so he is intimately familiar with California's biggest bass.

"Number one, genetics. If you don't have Florida bass you have no huge fish," said Lee, who added that nearly all California bass now demonstrate Florida-strain characteristics. More on that later.

Almost Record - Mike Winn holds up Mac Weakley's near-record catch that was foul hooked and landed at San Diego County's Lake Dixon in 2006. Photo courtesy Mac Weakley

"Number two, environment, a place where fish have the opportunity to grow large," Lee said. Southern California's heavily pressured reservoirs, notorious for gin-clear water that makes it harder to fool the fish, are better for producing big bass than the natural waters Back East. How could that be?

"Florida-strain fish are more predatory, more nocturnal and more sensitive to humans. Put them in a place with lots of pressure and clear water and they're very difficult to catch," Lee explained. Hard-to-catch fish live longer and, naturally, grow larger.

There's one more factor, what Lee calls a supplemental feeding program. "Not every place that produces large fish has a winter trout stocking program, but many do. There is a distinct correlation between stocking tens of thousands of pounds of fish flesh and big bass," Lee said. In the artificial environment of a California reservoir, the domesticated trout are easy prey for bass.

The IGFA's conservation director, Jason Schratwieser, agreed. "Those fish (trout and bass) aren't supposed to be together naturally. Trout haven't evolved to evade largemouth bass very well, but the bluegill and other sunfish common in the Southeast are aware of predation pressure and have very different behaviors around bass," Schratwieser said.

Not everyone believes stocked trout, the not so mysterious 'vitamin T,' solely accounts for the California size advantage.

"Bass over 20 lbs. have been caught at Lake Hodges. Hodges doesn't stock trout, but it has a long growing season and at times has had good nutrient levels. Other lakes that don't have trout still have big bass," Tony Smock said back in April. Smock is the superintendent of lakes and open spaces for Escondido. That city's tiny Dixon Lake gave up a 25-lb.-plus birthmarked beauty to Mac Weakley earlier this year. The fish was foul-hooked; since it was not a legal California catch, the potential world-record largemouth bass was released. Dixon is heavily planted with trout each winter.

"Although no one has tied it down to a study or factual information, it seems logical that 8- to 10-inch trout are nothing more than bon-bons for nice big bass," Orville Ball said. "Good protein. I'd hate to give the credit to force-feeding Florida bass with catchable trout."

It was Ball who brought faster and larger-growing Florida-strain bass to California. The Southeastern bass got their first taste of Western life at Upper Otay Lake in 1960.

The former longtime manager of the San Diego City Lakes answered in a matter of fact tone when asked if he'd expected to see a 25-lb. largemouth pulled out of California waters.

"I'm not surprised at all," Ball said. "Trying them in San Diego waters was certainly not brilliant, but it was an interesting biological experiment. It seemed logical that San Diego mirrored the Florida climate much more than that of the Northern states where California's first bass originated."

It didn't take long for the new fish to demonstrate their vigorous character. In 1962, when Ball began to move the Florida bass throughout the San Diego City Lakes system, he found the 2-year-old fish appeared to be larger than the Northern-strain bass they were accustomed to. Anglers noticed too.

"Around 1964 or '65, anglers began to catch fish that were 6, 7 or 8 lbs.," Ball said. "In those days, that was almost unheard of. Since then, the records show it's not uncommon to catch 12- to 14-lb. bass."

There's another wrinkle to consider. "We must remember that Florida-strain bass freely interbreed with Northern bass, resulting in fish with the characteristics of Florida bass," Ball said. "Lots of big fish, including Perry's 22-pounder, were undoubtedly Northern-Florida hybrids. Out here, Florida bass have extensively integrated with Northern bass."

Could California's biggest bass have evolved into a distinct, larger-growing subspecies? According to Ball, no recent studies have compared the genetics of current California and Florida largemouth bass. Meanwhile, there's no doubt another world beater could come out of California waters at any time.

"The fish is out there," Lee said. "We've seen it several places." It's not likely an occasional angler will catch it. Lee said the last record bass to fall for a gob of nightcrawlers was Dave Zimmerlee's 21-pounder caught from the dock at Lake Miramar in 1972, over 30 years ago. It's the downside of stocking tougher to catch Florida bass.

"Most people have never caught a bass over 10 lbs.," said Hugh Marx, the supervising ranger of Lake Jennings in San Diego's East County. "All they want to do is catch a bass."

Marx posed his own question: "Until recently, what was the most popular lake in Southern California? Barrett! Why was it so good? Barrett's Northern-strain bass are more aggressive and easier to catch. It made for 50-fish days. Stitching a plastic worm for hours on end for one or two bites a day is not my idea of fun."

The transition of bass fishing in California from an everyman's sport to a pursuit requiring finely honed skills is something to reflect upon when a California bass finally takes the largemouth crown.