The original World Record that stood for 70 odd years was caught by George Perry, in a Georgia pond.... 1948 it was...
Nothing came close to breaking it till Bob Crupi and his mates started chasing the world record....
Before the mid to late 80's, all the so called "Big Fish" Lakes were the territory of the Deep Humid South of the US... Florida and Georgia in particular....
Since the mid 80's though, the introduction of Bass into the California Reservoirs has seen a massive surge in huge bass... now all your "Big Fish" Lakes are on the West Coast, in California.... bigger and better I guess, along with all these MASSIVE Swimbaits the guys are using to chase bass these days... some of the lures are bigger than what we throw for 30 kilo GT's!!!
That bass you posted is a true Monster Bruce, wonder what the fight etc was like....
Either which way, if this Bass breaks the record, it'll be the fall of one of the oldest and most coveted records of all time.....
I miss bass fishing...
PS - If any of you enjoy a good book, and enjoy laughing your asses off, get hold of Double Whammy by Carl Hiaasen.... He is one of the greatest crime fictioon writers of all time in my opinion, and probably the funniest auther alive... Double Whammy is about the professional Bass fishing circuit in Florida in the 80's, and the madness that surrounds it.... After that read everything else Hiaasen has written too, you'll thank me...