[Mike P]

Originally Posted by BassDawg

SD, i hear ya about the verified records and some anglers
specialize their catches in that manner. although that "style"
of fishing is NOT for me, as that is the epitome of machismo BS!!

i view McReynolds as more of a Ham&Egger, who
got VERRRRY lucky(right time/right place/i'm aware that a degree of LUCK is
part and parcel to ALL big catches) and who's catch will ALWAYS be tainted, imho,
from the very second that his buddy grabbed his hoodie.

at that POINT in the fight it was no longer man vs fish;
but it became 2 men vs 1 striper. don't get me wrong, i
don't think that his buddy shouldn't have saved him,
it's just that, in my view, at that crossroads in the battle
MoSaxxy won the fight!!!

i never, EVER, would proclaim that fish to be the World Record.
Cinto's Striper is the WR i acknowledge; but, the good part of seeing
a COW of that size down at the OBX is this~~~

SHE'LL be 90#'s or better this FALL and hopefully~~~
"she'll be coming around my preferred lie when SHE comes!!"

McReynolds was far from a ham and egger. He was known as a competent fisherman in the Atlantic City area and always placed high in the various club tournaments down there.

There are at least 5 confirmed, legit catches (even if YOU don't consider McReynolds to be legit) as big or bigger than Cinto's. Cinto's fish was never a world record, and was never submitted for one because it was caught illegally under IGFA rules--on wire line. It was also caught on a lure with multiple treble hooks, which also made it illegal under IGFA rules at the time. Charlie's a swell guy, and we all love him to pieces, but his fish isn't even a state record in Mass--it's a co-record with two other fish the same weight--Tony Stetzko's 73 from shore, and Charles Church's 73 from 1912. Bob Rochetta from NY has a 76, if you don't want to acknowledge McReynolds fish--in fact, that fish was the record that McReynolds broke.