I have to admit, Mexico does seem like a likely location.
Maybe Salto, maybe another smaller lesser known lake, also full of tilapia and bass, caught by a local farmer on live bait... Then the local bait shop owner weighs it, photographs it and tells him it's a lake record, then he eats it. Everybody finds out about it 6 months later when some gringo bass fisherman walks in the bait shop, sees the photo and weight, and everybody goes ape @#$& cause it's 26 lbs.

lol