So if your 3 foot tall, it sure makes it look huge,...

C'mon guys. Do some research on all the California bass fishing blogs, websites, etc.

If anyone can substantiate this, more power to you. I tried and could not. The record LMB for Folsom Lake is just over 15 lbs. I realize this fish was not certified. But if you know anything about big bass fishing in CA, you'd know this photo and the backstory would be easy finds. Neither is.

Forget about the person holding the fish, how tall he isn't or is. All any of us (myself included) are doing is speculating.

We have a ton of folks here much more computer savvy than me. And a bunch of guys who are knowledgeable of and well connected to the big bass cult out there.

Someone prove it. Or disprove it. I tried and am still calling BS. Not on the fish. On its alleged weight.

lol,

Sorry Fouz, did not mean to lol you, it was about the california roll...

good fish but still a hoax...

I have determined that it is real and that is Ronnie Kelly holding the fish.

You can laugh at me all you want. Heck, I laugh at and make fun of "me" every chance I get. If you haven't noticed, I'm exactly as my Dad has described me for years..."Son, you're like a bull in a china closet."

With that affliction comes hours of misguided but good intentioned fun!

It is by no means a 26, but 18.18??? Very possible!

I want to hear "Big Cam's" take on this. Just curious why he has not posted...

sorry, will go back to lurkn4afishfight...

Look at the fish pics on Lake Baccarac Lodge http://www.lakebaccaraclodge.com/
Here you will see many pics of 14, 15 and 16 lb fish. I can tell you that I have taken hundreds of photos of 9-12 lb fish, many on here can verify that.
This fish is in a different caliber. Just by the shape of the lower gill plates etc, it has to be over 20 lbs to be my guess.
If I am being fooled, then so be it, but from what I can tell in the photo 26 lbs may not be too far off.
A friend of mine caught a 32 lb blue cat at Falcon a couple of weeks ago, same photo angle (human head to toe shot). Both fish are huge, I don't care if the man in the photo is 4 ft tall....

Here is a tip for "trick" photography. It is very difficult to make a bass look larger than it really is by holding vertical. Secondly, it is even harder to make it look large by taking a head to toe shot. Most pics that make a fish look large, only have the holder from the waist up to the persons face and the bass is vertical.

Even if that man is only 5'0 and 100lbs that's a monster fish...it must weigh at least 20% of that man....do the math! (20lb+) may not be a w.r. but look at the build of the fish, huge gill plates, gigantic mouth, that's a monster!

Three things.....that guy is tiny....look at his feet......second.....I don't believe the story anyway ......third.....I don't really believe the world record weighed 22.25 either ;-)

Here is a pic in this thread of Ronnie Kelly (Whom I do not know) holding a 12 pounder while he is kneeling.
He looks to be the about the same height as the guy holding the 26 pounder!

If it is close then the WR? fish is bigger but not 14 lbs heavier.

Just an observation as we will never know the whole story.

BigDozer66

It's bigger than anything I have caught that's all I know

Is he related to Orlando Willson??