STATE RECORD STRIPED BASS LANDED

For Immediate Release - March 27, 2006 STATE RECORD STRIPED BASS LANDED A 68-lb., 1-oz. striped bass caught on March 4th by Clay T. Armstrong of Mechanicsville has been certified as a new Virginia state record by the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament.

Armstrong caught his fish in the Atlantic Ocean just south of the Sandbridge area of Virginia Beach on his private boat, Fin Addict. He was fishing with two of his regular fishing partners, Michael Lowery and Cameron Gray. 

The trio of anglers had just deployed their spread of four rods and were trolling through a "beehive" of gannets when all four rods "went off". After Gray lost the first fish, he and Lowery landed fish in the 30-pound class. Armstrong was still fighting a big fish on the fourth rod, and as it neared the boat the anglers realized the fish was huge. 
Compounding the problem was a second fish on the "double-drop" rig. They opened the transom door and Lowery reached over the swim platform and lifted the huge fish into the boat. After the second fish was boated, the anglers immediately ran back to Rudee Inlet to weigh the fish they hoped would be a new state record.

The record-setting striper measured 52 inches in length and had a girth of 33.5 inches. The prior state record of 63-lbs., 8-ozs. was caught in the Atlantic Ocean off Wachapregue by Paul W. Kleckner on January 2, 2005.

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