Yes, that's one MONSTROUS largemouth bass -- tipping the scale at 22-pounds, 4-ounces – and it has the angling world in a tizzy. But no, unfortunately, it wasn't caught in Minnesota, or even the U.S. It reportedly was caught in a lake in Japan, and paperwork has been submitted to the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) in Florida for world record recognition. Officials there say that, if certified, it would tie a 77-year world record for a bucketmouth caught in Georgia in 1932.

Manabu Kurita, 32, of Aichi, Japan, caught the big bass on Lake Biwa northeast of Kyoto, Japan. Largemouth bass are not native to Japan, and officials there consider them an invasive species. Kurita's fish measured 27.20 inches long with an absolutely amazing girth of 26.77 inches.

The current world record largemouth was caught June 2, 1932, by George Perry on Montgomery Lake near Jacksonville, Georgia.

According to paperwork filed with the IGFA, Kurita caught the massive fish in Japan while trolling with a bluegill through a canal on the lake. IGFA officials say they still have some unanswered questions and hope to determine within a month whether the fish will go into the record books. For more information on the association, see www.igfa.org.