world record striper - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

clambelly · 10-29-2006, 08:49 AM

ok, this is some crazy stuff ive just found. those "freak" fish like a few others have talked about, that just don't fit the mold according to the length/girth charts...you gotta check this out..

http://www.arkansasstripers.com/worl...e-ouachita.htm

Mike P · 10-29-2006, 09:01 AM

First of all, to answer the original question--I don't think Al's fish was ever gutted. It went intact to a taxidermist, in all likelihood. It had to be weighed on a certified scale to be accepted as the record, and was probably the single most scrutinized fish in history. If I had to guess, I would say the belly was loaded with the mullet it was feeding on.

Al caught the fish. No doubt about it. If it was caught in a net there would have been unmistakeable marks on it, and as I said, it was probably the most scutinized fish ever. The big problem is that Al is not the sharpest tool in the shed, and is his own worst enemy sometimes. At last count, he's told about 4 different versions of how long he had the fish on the line. I don't believe for a second it was an hour and forty minutes. It probably seemed that long to him, but in actuality, was probably more like 40 minutes. A Penn 710 doesn't hold enough 20# line for a striper to fight for close to 2 hours.

vanstaal · 10-29-2006, 09:02 AM

hay isn't that a Geoduck u have there ! Clambelly ?

JohnR · 10-29-2006, 09:17 AM

I think the guy caught the fish. We're not old pals or anything but I have met him before and talked with him at length....

Funny how this thread always goes down this road

We should start a new thread "If you landed the world record fish, would you tell ?"

CAL · 10-29-2006, 09:31 AM

I've heard it took him 4 hours and I've heard it took 1 hour. I've heard he caught it on a bomber and that he got it on a Rebel. Also heard he was going to gut it right on the jetty.

I don't care, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. I think he caught it.

What I don't believe is that it "ruined his life". People don't believe you? %$%$%$%$ them and get on with your life. Why should you care if anyone believes you. Only thing that matters is that YOU know.

piemma · 10-30-2006, 02:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CAL

I've heard it took him 4 hours and I've heard it took 1 hour. I've heard he caught it on a bomber and that he got it on a Rebel. Also heard he was going to gut it right on the jetty.

I don't care, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. I think he caught it.

What I don't believe is that it "ruined his life". People don't believe you? %$%$%$%$ them and get on with your life. Why should you care if anyone believes you. Only thing that matters is that YOU know.

The whole story was published last year in Saltwater magazine. It was a 2 part story and had Al as he told the story to the writer.
There were many reasons the fish ruined his life. He allegedly received $250,000 for catching the fish. People were jealous of the money which today isn't a huge sum but 20 or 30 years ago was a fortune. many of the reasons in this thread also were true then...people didn't believe he really caught the fish. he as shunned by the community, his friends, even his family. It proved to be his undoing.

tattoobob · 10-29-2006, 07:11 PM

I could really care less if he caught it or not, the thing that did stick out in my mind is this, striperman36 said that weakfish and blue fish were feeding on mullet and sandeels, well it just sticks out in my mind that a fish that big would be eating weakfish and bluefish it's the food chain. so if it did have a weakfish in it's belly it should have. I give him my humble congrats for landing a fish like that on flounder gear.

ChiefLinesider · 10-29-2006, 07:43 PM

He will be going down in history either way... Whether he caught it or not, can be argued both ways. So your always left back at square one, with Al McReynolds still the current IGFA record holder. And that fact will not change, unless of course....

It's bound to be broken eventually. You only need 78 3/4...

ProfessorM · 10-29-2006, 08:10 PM

The way I figure it is he is standing next to the world record fish on the scale and it is an official weight so I guess it counts. I really don't care if he waded in and wrestled it he brought it to the scale. I also think the record will be broken but by a fresh water fish.

Mike P · 10-29-2006, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChiefLinesider

It's bound to be broken eventually. You only need 78 3/4...

Actually, I think you'd need 79-1/2 to break the record. Somewhere in the IGFA rules, I think there's a provision that you have to beat the existing record by a full pound--otherwise, it goes down as a tied record

Of course, if you catch that 78-3/4 on anything but 20# class line, you'd have a line class record, at least. The 16# record is 69 (Steve Petri) and the 50# record is 76 (Bob Rochetta). No clue on the 30# class record

Cinto's fish was never accepted as a record, for two reasons--it was caught on wire line, and the rules at the time prohibited using a lure with multiple treble hooks. A few years later, a guy from Fall River named Ed Kirker caught a 72 which tied Church's record. Then, sometime down the road, due to uncertainty over whether Church weighed his fish on an accurate scale, his fish was taken down, and Kirker's stood alone as the record until Rochetta caught a 76 in 1981, a few months before Stetzko got his 73.