State Record King Mackerel Landed 

For Immediate Release
July 18, 2007 


A 63-pound, 1-ounce king mackerel caught on July 14th by Susan M. Smith of Virginia Beach has been certified as the new Virginia state record for the species by the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament. 

Smith caught her fish while trolling off Sandbridge in the southern part of Virginia Beach with her husband, David Smith, on their boat Li'L Suzy. The king mackerel, which measured 65.25 inches in length and had a girth of 26 inches, hit a green, mackerel-back Mirrolure trolled near one of the yellow spoil site buoys. A twenty-minute battle ensued during which the mackerel nearly took all of the line off Smith's reel twice.

The prior state record of 52-pounds, 2-ounces was caught on the Little Island Fishing Pier at Sandbridge by Andrew Allessio of Amherst on August 19, 1999.

For more information, contact Claude Bain, Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament, 968 S. Oriole Drive, Virginia Beach, VA 23451, (757) 491-5160, mrcswt@visi.net.