In late January I wrote about Fred Barnes, an angler from Chesapeake, who broke the state record with a 73-pound, 3-ounce striped bass. Yesterday, Barnes’ record was made official. The fish was a 22-year-old female, and is viewed by state fishery regulators as proof two decades of size and catch limits are working.

“This is what those regulations are all about,’’ said Jack Travelstead, chief of fisheries management at the Virginia Marine Resource Commission. “This is what they were meant to do. Anglers can look forward to even larger fish. This record won’t last.’’

The fish fell a little more than 5 pounds short of the International Game Fish Association all-tackle world record—a 78-pound, 8-ounce striper caught off a New Jersey beach in 1982 by Albert McReynolds.

The previous state record was a 68-pound, 1-ounce fish caught in 2006 by Clay Armstrong of Mechanicsville.

Posted by Andy Thompson in • Outdoors • Fishing
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