New record in Virginia - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

numbskull · 01-29-2012, 08:04 AM

Through out my life, 73 lbs was the benchmark for a truly special fish.

In 1918 Charles Church did it, throwing eels from a row boat with a cane rod, thumb drag, and linen line along some of the toughest bass territory that exists. Well earned.

Sixty years later, Charles Cinto did it...... granted with the help of the best charter captain fishing at the time......but Cinto was a hard fishing guy and out in a small boat, at night, in nasty conditions when he did it. Well earned.

Then Stetzko did it, fishing a barren beach on a cold Nov night, long after everyone else had quit for the season. Well earned again.

Then there was the 78lb fish from NJ. Again reportedly taken in NE storm from a jetty in hard nasty conditions. Also well earned.

Then P. Vican took one, throwing eels along BI. Yeah it was easier than the others, but no question he put years of hard work and devoted fishing to do it. Well eared again.

Then there was a 75 from down south, that hit a Mann deep diving minnow being trolled at tuna speed from a charter boat moving to a different spot. That one seemed cheap to me.

Then there was this recent 82 lb fish. Again taken by a guy who worked damn hard to do it. Well earned.

Now there is another. Nice story, sure, a dad and his son out enjoying a day on the water, rods in the holders soaking bait on the bottom. Luck came their way....maybe not as much as the guy dragging the Mann diver at 6 knots......but lots ands lots of luck no matter how you see it.

Sure Church, Cinto, Stezko, Vican, Myerson, and the NJ dude, needed luck as well.......but right or wrong I feel a lot more work went into their fish than this one. If I'm wrong, then I'm sorry.......but my point is only that the more 70lb fish that are caught, the more common (and hence easier) the catch becomes, the less value this benchmark holds. And that saddens me some, if only because it cheapens a bit the qualities I admire most in fishing. But that is my problem, not yours, I'm sorry to have mentioned it, and I do not at all begrudge the happiness this recent catch brought the people involved.