Bill Cochran is a Roanoke Times outdoors columnist.

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Bill Cochran's Outdoors

Recent columns

• Less freedom at Hatteras for surf casters
• Here’s the scoop on hunting shed antlers
• Want more grouse? Get used to hearing chainsaws
• Sunday hunting bills aplenty, but some hunters hold out
• Column archive

Bill's Mailbag

• Hunting for a book on rabbit hunting
• More comments on Sunday hunting
• Mail archive

Bill's Field Reports

• Winterize your boat? Heck no! Keep on fishing
• Senator gets attention of DGIF
• Field reports archive

Resources

• Trout stocking schedule

BILL: After reading your comments about the largemouth bass from Japan that tied the 22-pound, 4-ounce record from Georgia that stood for 77 years, I’m wondering how Virginia’s largemouth catches stack up in comparison to other states. What is the state record?

K.B.: Actually, Virginia ranks pretty well. The Virginia record is a 16-pound, 4-ounce Conner Lake catch taken April 16, 1985 by Richard Tate of Ringgold.

Only seven states top the Virginia catch -- Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Texas. Arkansas ties it.

Conner, a modest 100-acre public impoundment in Halifax County, had been stocked with Florida bass, which could have influenced the size of Tate’s catch.

Will the Virginia record be broken? It probably is pretty safe.

BILL: Congratulations to Manabu Kurita (on catching the world-record tying largemouth bass). He is a true trophy hunter dedicated to the pursuit of world record bass like no other. I am proud to say that in the past year he has become one of my closest friends. Another person who helps him a great deal, but receives no real credit, is Reika Ishaguro who designs his Web site, communicates his thoughts and wishes to me and others, and also is a great angler in her own right. Manabu and Reika are good friends and you can talk with both of them at my Web site, at World Record Trophy Bass Fishing.