George Bruggeman had no intention of catching a record-sized striped bass when he headed to Ohio’s Kiser Lake on Sept. 29. He was actually set up for bluegills and yellow perch when he hooked into a huge striper. Bruggeman ended up landing the fish, and it has since been certified as a new state record, according to the Ohio Division of Wildlife.
ODW said in a recent announcement that the 71-year-old angler was fishing one of his favorite spots on Kiser using a typical panfish setup: a light spinning reel spooled with 8-pound test Trilene, and a hook baited with half a nightcrawler. A photograph of Bruggeman with the giant fish shows him standing in a small jon boat. Holding the fish’s head up above his waist, its tail stretches all the way to the floor of the boat.
“It’s always [the] guy with 8lb test fishing for bluegill that ends up catching giant records,” one Facebook user wrote in the comment section of ODW’s post.
Bruggeman’s striper measured 41.81 inches long with a 27.36-inch girth, according to the ODW official who verified the species and measurements. The Scioto Post reports that it weighed 37.375 pounds and was confirmed as a new state record by the Outdoor Writers of Ohio State Record Fish Committee.
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Although the record-keeping organization has yet to update its website with the new record, Bruggeman’s striped bass outweighs the current Ohio record by a little more than a quarter of a pound. The previous record, a 31.1-pounder, was caught from West Branch Reservoir in 1993.