While fishing on the banks of Bull Shoals Lake, angler Lawrence Dillman of Rockaway Beach, Missouri, caught an huge striped bass.
This fish is the new state record for the specie; a striped bass weighing 65 pounds, 2 ounces with a length of 49 3/4 inches
He fought the big fish for over 45 minutes until he got him to shallow water,
After the big bass broke Dillman’s own scales, the record was verified by "Missouri Department of Conservation" staff using a certified scale.
The fish is now being mounted at Bass Pro’s headquarters in Springfield, Mo.
This striped bassr is likely one of a group inadvertently stocked in Bull Shoals Lake by Arkansas game officials in the late 1990s and now reaching the end of their lifespans.
These fishes have grown to enormous sizes over the years by feeding on threadfin shad in the deep waters.
