This could be the one who got away.
A fishing tournament participant may have caught a state record-setting striped bass from Arkansas. He released the fish back in the water without having it officially weighed or measured.
Stephen Tyson Jr. caught the large-striped bass during the Phoenix Bass Fishing League tournament at Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs. According to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission the lake is stocked in stripers as well as several lakes in the northern part of the state.
Tyson was fishing for black bass. He realized that he had something quite large when he caught a fish.
Tyson said that it gave him a fight. “I was fishing in black bass and I had caught some nice bass. This big fish was on my scope and I first thought it was a bass. It came off the bottom and ate my bait.
Arkansas’s record for stripe bass is 64 pounds 8 ounces. It was set at Beaver Lake, Arkansas in 2000.
Tyson doesn’t know exactly how heavy the fish is, but he had caught a fish just over 50 pounds in the past and believes this fish was heavier.
After taking photographs, he released the fish into the water.
He said, “When I released the item, it really sank in. ‘You let this one go.'” “The only thing I regret about is not having it weighed. It was only 5-10 minutes into the tournament. I won’t stop fishing for bass. It was easy to see that I could catch at least 20 pounds by starting out so fast. Then, I caught a striper this size. It’s the fish of a lifetime.
