On father’s day, ten-year-old angler Dean Vetere was fishing with his dad, Vinny, when he hauled in a 48.7-pound striped bass off Sandy Hook, New Jersey. Dean caught the fish all by himself, as his father proudly pointed out. The fish, which Dean took while live-lining bunker, is a pending IGFA small-fry record for striped bass. And it seems Dean’s luck on the rod was contagious. Two days later, Vinny took the boat out for a couple of hours after he dropped Dean off at schooland caught a 50! A 58.6-pounder to be exact. Lucky for Dean that Dad doesn’t qualify for small-fry records.Courtesy Of Vinny Vetere
Catches of Note
While fishing in Florida’s Charlotte Harbor earlier this summer, David Spletzer, of Brooklyn, New York, hooked up with a 6 1/2-foot goliath grouper with a dead mullet and 80-pound standup tackle. Spletzer and Captain Randy Knowles estimated the monster to weigh 464 pounds. The next day, Spletzer said he had an even bigger goliath on, but the fight ended when the fish broke his rod in half. Turns out the short fight may have been a blessing in disguise, as the first goliath gave Spletzer enough of a beating. “I released the fish unharmed,” he says. “But my back is another story.”Courtesy Of David Spletzer
Catches of Note
Angler Billy Ray Lucas and friends were fishing off Rodanthe, North Carolina, in Captain Troy Crane’s 35-foot Bertram when they spotted a huge shadow in the water. Lucas cast a five-ounce bucktail, and the fish turned on it. “The rest is history,” says Crane. Back at the dock the 71-inch cobia pegged the scale at 116.5 pounds, setting a new state record and making for a pending IGFA 50-pound line-class record.Courtesy Of Billy Ray Lucas
