What is it about large surf-caught stripers on the East Coast? There’s been quite a few monsters pulled from the suds in recent years and while this one isn’t a new world record it was beached by surfcaster Ben Smith and now stands alone as the new Delaware state record.
John Clark, Delaware’s Superintendent of Fisheries, confirmed that the 52-pound rockfish (local name for striped bass) caught at Delaware’s Seashore State Park busted a record that stood for 34 years. The previous top cow was caught way back in 1978 by Betty Rosen while fishing a Blue Mullet plug from the south side jetty at Indian River Inlet. That fish weighed 51 pounds, 8 ounces.
Smith’s new Delaware State record fell for a piece of cut bunker at 7:00 a.m. on Saturday, December 8. Although the heifer wasn’t weighed in until 12:00 noon at Old Inlet Bait and Tackle, care was taken to preserve the weight and the big girl pulled the scale down past the magic mark. The fish was inspected by a DNREC enforcement officer at the time of its official weighing.
Congrats on a great catch Ben, and we look forward to hearing your account and seeing more of this fish in issue No. 3 of The Fisherman.
