What a catch. These are the moments we all want when we hit the water. And sometimes it does just take one cast.
When it comes to sport fishing, striped bass are certainly up there for fun. You can get into massive schools and catch them on literally every cast. These fish put up a good fight and can get big, reaching over 50 inches and weighing over 75 pounds.
These fish are also excellent to eat, making for a great fish fry. Naturally, many people are running to the water to catch them, especially on the East Coast… their native range. Striper is actually the state fish of of Maryland, Rhode Island, and South Carolina.
This guide had the catch of his lifetime while out of the coast of Maryland, according to Outdoor Life.
In Chesapeake Bay fishing guide, Tom Weaver, had a client out on the water for some striper fishing. The fishing got good and the pair got into a big school of large fish, landing one after another.
That’s when the guide decided to take a cast for himself, as he doesn’t normally fish with clients on board. Digging out his fly rod, he heaved his fly out to where he saw a nice striped bass.
On that first cast, he hooked into a beauty as seen in the video. The fish fights hard but he gets it in.
After measuring it in at 40.16 inches long, weighing 35-40 pounds, it was deemed the world record striped bass caught and released on a fly.
Take about a fun catch right there… that’s a big ol’ bass to catch on a fly rod.
“On December 30, 2023, IGFA Captain Tom Weaver was fishing out of Annapolis, Maryland, US, aboard his boat Miss Jimmy when this 102-centimeter striped bass struck his fly.
After a 22-minute fight, Weaver boated the fish and quickly recorded a measurement on his Official IGFA Measuring Device before releasing the fish safely.
With this fish, Tom has set the new IGFA All-Tackle Length Fly World Record for the species.”
