Quote:
Originally Posted by RIROCKHOUND
I know fluke are a pain in the ass in the boat re: thrashing etc.. but the eyes, gills, tail of that fish seem to scream dragger caught fish...
there is always a jealousy factor with potential records of big fish, especially popular species... maybe rightfully or wrongfully initiated...
Anyone see her 18lb/33" weakfish? I think Bob Moellers was 16lbs/36" and looked much fatter!
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I've seen the weak. 33" weakfish do not weigh 18 lbs--period. One 33" striper out of a hundred will run 18 lbs, usually because it's loaded with roe. And bass are much heavier per inch than weaks. She caught that weak in August. Weaks spawn in the spring. End of story.
I don't think it's jealousy. Very few records generate controversy. I was around when Stetzko caught Bertha. No one questioned it, even though it wasn't a world record. It was still the largest bass ever taken from shore at the time, and a co-state record. No one questioned Bob Rochetta's 76. Most of the controversy over McReynold's fish is due to the fact that for whatever reason, he can't tell the story the same way twice (and just for the record, I believe he really did catch the fish). Rumors about this fish started the second it was weighed in--not weeks down the road. Add to that fact the little ditty about this being either her third or fourth record catch within a year. Even people who set out specifically to set records don't set 4 new ones in a year.
Here's another thing I found strange--she supposedly had to rip the fish's head almost clean off to get her jig out of its gills, but, by other reports, there was a stinger hook on the jig, too. Where was that if the bucktail was buried in the gills? And, the woman's a nurse at a local hospital. You mean to tell me that a nurse couldn't get a jig out of a fish without doing that to it? How the hell does she take an IV out of a patient's arm, or find a vein to insert one
Now, to top everything else off, it's apparently being claimed by her and her family that the fish can't even be inspected any more, because it was "ravaged" by animals when they left it out overnight in the cooler. The potential world record fluke, whose mount could be exhibited for cash, gets left out overnight on the back steps in a cooler that conveniently has the lid ajar so animals can feast on it
I tried to stay open minded on this, but it's just too much to swallow.