Subject to approval by Delaware’s Fish and wildlife Section, Delaware may have a new state record striped bass.
The new, “pending” Delaware striped bass state record was weighed in on Sunday, December 4, 2016 at Hook ‘em and Cook ‘em bait and tackle shop at Indian River Inlet, DE. Paul Santa Barbara of Ocean View, DE and Kenny Kaiss teamed up to land the monster, 62-pound striped bass which was caught on the troll using a 32-ouce mojo.
Paul did the cranking and Kenny netted the fish, which taped out at 50 inches with a girth of 30 inches according to Hook ’em and Cook ’em. The duo reported that they were fishing at Overfalls Shoal.
Hook ’em and Cook ’em reported on Monday that the bass was reeled in by Santa Barbara, while adding "This fish was not coming aboard without a net that was handled by Kenny Kaiss on his boat Island Girl."
According to Delaware field editor Eric Burnley, the enforcement officer who took the report also took the citation form from Hook ‘em and Cook ‘em to confirm the catch which is expected today. The catch is welcome news for Delaware coastal anglers who’ve anxiously awaited the arrival of striped bass.
“The first of the fall migratory striped bass have been caught by boats out of Delaware ports,” Burnley said reported on December 5 for The Fisherman’s weekly reports. “A few from Indian River fished off of New Jersey. Some had big rockfish while others caught nothing. At least one boat fished the Rips between Cape Henlopen and Cape May.” Burnley noted that all the notable striped bass catches at Delaware Bay of late have been on the troll.
As covered in The Fisherman Magazine’s online series of hot spots, the famed “Rips” at Delaware Bay are actually a series of shoals that extend from with a half-mile of the beach (the Eph Shoal) out to beyond the three mile federal water demarcation (the McCrie Shoal). Depths range from approximately 30 feet to a very sudden 3 to 4 feet in wind against tide conditions. “While bass can be caught throughout the expanse, the best spots are the Eph, Prissy Wicks, Somer, North, Gunmount, Round, Overfalls and Middle shoals,” noted author Tom Pagliaroli.
The current and soon to be previous Delaware state record striped bass was beached by surfcaster Ben Smith nearly 4 years ago to the day, a 52-pounder taken on a piece of cut bunker at 7 a.m. on Saturday, December 8 and weighed in at Old Inlet Bait and Tackle.
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) is actively working to certify the catch.
