Aug. 5, 2008 is a date that Frank Ualat of Gilroy, CA won’t soon forget.
Down to his last bait at Central California’s O’Neill Forebay, Ualat hooked this mammoth 70-pound, 6-ounce striped bass.
The enormous fish measured 52.5 inches long and had a 36-inch girth and was caught on a pileworm fished on an 11-foot G. Loomis Surf Series spinning rod and a Team Daiwa Advantage 4000 reel spooled up with 50-pound braid.
But that’s not the whole story…
After catching the fish, Ualat packed the fish in ice — in his bathtub — overnight and then took it to Coyote Bait & Tackle where it was weighed on an uncertified scale and photographed. At 70 pounds, 6 ounces, the fish is larger than the current state record of 67-8, taken in 1992 by Hank Ferguson of Merced — at the same lake.
Though the scale has been sent in for official certification, there’s some doubt that Ualat’s fish will be recognized as a state or IGFA line class record beecause the evidence is gone. Ualat ate the fish….
maria says
why didn't you invite me for dinner. i have a good recipe for striper, call me next time im really hungry
ryan says
all you needed to do is call fish and game, they would talk you through the process…..no brainer.
Frank Ualat says
I brought the fish the coyote bait and tackle to have it wieghed because i thought that they would help me but all they suggested was to go find a certified scale in morgan hill but where???? I was told to go to a feed store because they told me that they might have one. That didn’t really make any sense but I went anyway and they didn’t have one. I couln’t just keep fish at the house till I found one, I didn’t have a freezer big enough and as the days pass the fish would lose weight. I really didn’t know what to do next with the fish because no one told me that it could be a world record or state record. I didn’t know where to go and the proceedures to get the fish in the books untill it was too late. I really thought that Coyote bait and tackle would help me at the moment. It was weighed there, measured, and pictures were taken by the co- owner Teri Bradford. Overall the experience of catching a big fish is a huge accomplishment for a simple fisherman like me.
Ryan Sabalow says
With tartar sauce?
Hells yeah.
That story made me laugh.
What else are you going to do with a 70 pound fish? Keep it in your bathtub for a week until you find a certified scale?
Jeremiah W. says
I mean, he went out of his way to pose with the G-loomis shirt and the rod and then ATE it without an official weight????? I don’t get it.
Jeremiah W. says
Why in God’s name would you give up on getting a certified weight on that fish and EAT it?????????????