Are they just rumors? Where's the pictures? Wheres the evidence? If your a commerial fisherman and you see what looks to be the mother of all bass wouldn't you atleast take a picture? Back in them days that picture would have been taken at the dock for all to see, no?? Where's the proof cause my search button is busted and I need to upgrade my cheesy tackle.

Timely topic - I was justing watching a fishing DVD over the weekend, Fishing For Trophy Striped Bass By Al Lorenzetti. In the DVD's opening statements as it is explaining stripers, etc.. it mentions the largest landed was either 100 or 125lbs in 1891 via nets from a boat. I'll confirm exact weight again when I get home tonite.

Anyone out there confirm or deny this statement? I think it was off the NC/SC coast too? I tried a few searches using different criteria but came up empty.

Not sure what I was searching for before but if you google "1891 and striper" you get many hits referring to this landing. 125lbs off NC coast.

There is also a Maine record of about the same era of a 98 lb. Striper

There are a bunch of written records...but no photos. I don't believe them. I also don't think Mr. Church's fish was 73, it was a great fish but it does not look like a 73.
There was a written record in the fulton fish market (ny) that had a 100# bass...gutted without the head! (est weight was 125)Also several in Long Island Sound in the late 1800's were records that had them to something like 98#s...again, no photos back then.

I want to see the fish and the measurements before I (really) believe it.

100 lb bass .....today....that wouldnt surprise me.

Capt. Don has a 90 lb er on the wall at his shop. He brings it to the RISAA show.

I have no doubt there are still 100lb cows out there, they stay offshore, and us surfcasters dont really get a shot at them.
I know of several reliable reports of fish 80 plus, always seem to get away tho...a scuba aquaintance of mine swore hes seen bass that would smoke the record, ive heard this from other people also, I believe Mike Laptew even talked about seeing some fish over 80lbs once diving off Newport.
I cant even imagine a bass over 100lbs, imagine that thing swimming by you out on a bar in the wee hours of the AM:blush:

Believe it. Records do exist. Take for example two taken in nets ( when haul seining was legal in Massachusetts) at Orleans both weighed near 120 pounds gutted 112 ea. Photos back then were a big deal for the average commercial fisherman of 1890. Did you ever see the video of the live 80 pounder the USFWS tagged in Chesapeake Bay in the 80's? Or the video of the guy wrestling the 80 odd pounder on the deck of a heaving NOAA boat doing netting offshore of the outer banks in December? Mighty impressive fish especially when he gets whacked (the guy) by the tail and goes down on the deck still holding the fish. I believe that fish that big are still out there. Will a surfcaster or boatmen tag one? Most likely it will be caught by some cod fishermen off of Great hill dropping a jig to the bottom in late November in the channel, a catch by chance. Me and my Fishing Bud Eric LaFleur saw a fish in French Watering place on Naushon in June one year that was enormous, I mean upsetting enormous and it tried to take a danny but had so much mass as it rushed the plug in 3 feet of water it simply pushed the plug ahead of itself. Niether of us could talk for a while after seeing that fish. We caught forty pounders there that were dwarfed by this one, I will never forget that and how close Eric came to making history. It swam under the boat in gin clear water that was 3 feet deep. Unbelievable? No way, they are out there.

I'm skeptical if you can't tell. Since 1900 the gear, technology, tackle, fishing knowledge and numbers of fishers out there I'ld think you'ld see a wider range of fish bewtween then and now. Like more 90's and 80's not just a few. They must be on a strict lobster deit if their off-shore. Do you think they stopped stretching when they reached 100ish. Then again its the ocean anything is possible.

pt.j...90#?????

I hope they're out there, out there eating dogfish:rocketem:

i bet some poor surfcaster has hooked into one then either gotten spooled or broken off. You hear the stories adn tehy say it had to be a 50.. could hav been a seal.. who knows.. could have been 90 :huh:

unbelievable hey :chatter

iv heard storys about roccus,a striper over 100lbs in the east end of the canal.

Capt Don's had a 90 pound bass mounted that was on loan from somewhere, so they do exist, and they are still out there. There was acatch in 1997 in Delaware from a commercial netter that went 104, 88 pounds at the dock gutted. Look at the largest Cod ever caught on rod and reel- 98pounds 12 ounces by Alphonse Bielevich off Isle of Shoals, NH in 1969.
The largest ever confirmed Atlantic Cod was 212.4 pounds taken off St. Pieere Bank, NS. Look at the huge gap there. The same thing holds true , in my opinion, for almost every game fish sought by man. The largest and fattest of these species do not get to be that way by biting things with hooks in them. They are wary, careful fish, who often frequent deep areas where larger baits are present and fisherman do not often target, due to the depths, distances, and other factors that draw these fish to these holding places. Large stripers caught in nets are always in winter months, offshore, where they are more than likely suspended mid depths, and get caught up in them. If they do ever become hooked, think of the efforts and gear that would be required to land such a beast. The odds heavily favor the fish in those circumstances. Just my .02

Oh, yeah, the reason no commercial guy takes photos is 1). its $$$ not trophy, and 2, who the hell takes their camera to work every day?? Remember that 64 pound Striped Bass last year turned in at a monger in New Bedford? They basically had to send out smoke signals to get the guy to even come forward with his name, let alone pictures of him holding it.

15# or less, Think I'll go mess with the schoolies today.

25#or less, Going out tonight getting me some dinner.

35#or less, It sure felt good getting to them bass.

45#or less, dude what a freakin night I had, I couldn't even sleep.

50#or less, dream come true for a lot of us.

60#or less, hugging grown men high fiveing strangers.

70#or less, I could die today who cares.

H
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G
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80# to 100#+ dude let me tell you about the dream i had last night.

Did you ever see the video of the live 80 pounder the USFWS tagged in Chesapeake Bay in the 80's? Or the video of the guy wrestling the 80 odd pounder on the deck of a heaving NOAA boat doing netting offshore of the outer banks in December?
Flap. are the videos avail. to see? Online or whatever? I'd love to see them..:happy:

Oh, yeah, the reason no commercial guy takes photos is 1). its $$$ not trophy, and 2, who the hell takes their camera to work every day??
I've been an offshore commerical fisherman for over 20 years, and I can tell you that many guys, including myself, have been taking cameras out with us ever since I can remember. In the early days, it was those cheapo point and shoots... I forget what mm they were. Then there were the Cannon Sure Shot types... then the disposables... and now, of course digitals. One of the reasons so many guys take cameras is because the nature of the job is, you'll never know WHAT you'll see.

flaptail would be correct in his account of the 120lber caught off orleans.

if you ever go to nauset beach, there is a plaque in the rangers station documenting the story with the date and the size of the fish and the method it was caught. it was taken only a few miles off nauset beach.

MoroneSaxatilis...great pic of the sea scallops. the dollar sign is a nice touch as well:D

:wave:

have the length and girth measurements for a sixty pounder...?

i want to double it and do a side by side comparison of a man
and a 120lb monster striper...just for fun.... damn! it's cold today!

nice scallops picture.... their my favorite seafood...
when i worked at the new bedford docks unloading fish and scallops
even though i'm not a thief...everytime i hefted a fifty pound cloth sack of huge
sea scallops i often got the notion to just take off and start running away with it:boots:
...because to me it was like a sack of GOLD heh heh heh:bl:

:topic:

the dollar sign is a nice touch as well...
I was Mate on that boat for 2 trips and never noticed the dollar sign on the hatch until I climbed the rigging to grease the blocks, try to get cell service, and snap a pic...

...everytime i hefted a fifty pound cloth sack of huge
sea scallops i often got the notion to just take off and start running away with it...
..people have actually done that...

:scatter:

Morone, great photos from that scallop boat!! Crazy bastard though climbing the rigging like that!!!!

have the length and girth measurements for a sixty pounder...?

i want to double it and do a side by side comparison of a man
and a 120lb monster striper...just for fun.... damn! it's cold today!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
here's what i meant... heres a 64 pound striper that i cropped
out of the picture and exactly doubled its size to give you an idea how big a 128 pound striper is.... OK? and i'll tell yah...i've
personally
spoken to divers
in Arizona that after inspecting the hoover dam's interior walls
for cracks at big depths....(100-800 ft deep) they would never go back down there again saying that there were big catfish down there so big they could eat me. too dangerous. they talked about using cars for fishing...and rear axels reels on a tire less rim
and cables...and oh my god insanity....after big ole bushes were being ripped out of the ground over night..when tied off to them


http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c66/ravenob1/S_dudes.jpg

I have no doubt there are still 100lb cows out there, they stay offshore, and us surfcasters dont really get a shot at them.
I know of several reliable reports of fish 80 plus, always seem to get away tho...a scuba aquaintance of mine swore hes seen bass that would smoke the record, ive heard this from other people also, I believe Mike Laptew even talked about seeing some fish over 80lbs once diving off Newport.
I cant even imagine a bass over 100lbs, imagine that thing swimming by you out on a bar in the wee hours of the AM:blush:
Prob. try and eat ya!:tooth:

Raven,

I have a feeling those 100+ pounders get fatter more than longer, may have to shorten up that pic and widen it out:D

I think just like with boats, length does not equal displacement. In other words a 20 foot boat displaces much more than twice what a ten foot boat does even if you just scaled it up.

Do I hear anyone saying gene splicing?

I stopped believing in Santa just last year......I believe in the existence of the 100+ cows, at least in that they existed 100 years ago.

Nice job on the cropped photo. However, when you double the size I think you are acutally cubing the volume so I think the striper in the new photo would actually weigh more like 64 x 2 x 2 x 2 or 512 lbs. What a dream that would be!

Fish On, you are correct. You dork you. :claps:

Mass is proportional to the volume which is a cubic equation. To show the approximate size of fish twice the weight. The size of the picture should be increased approximately 26 percent.

Boy engineers REALLY are dorks! :D
Hi Ed



BTW; Geologists arent much better :D

There are a bunch of written records...but no photos. I don't believe them. I also don't think Mr. Church's fish was 73, it was a great fish but it does not look like a 73.
There was a written record in the fulton fish market (ny) that had a 100# bass...gutted without the head! (est weight was 125)Also several in Long Island Sound in the late 1800's were records that had them to something like 98#s...again, no photos back then.

I want to see the fish and the measurements before I (really) believe it.
Who caught that? John Gotti