Mark McArtor of Camdenton has caught the state’s largest hybrid striped bass. He used a jug line to catch the 9 lb. 1 oz. fish at a length of 27-inches.
Mark McArtor of Camdenton with his record catch (Photo courtesy of Missouri Department of Conservation)
McArtor caught the fish through the new alternative method in front of his house on the Lake of the Ozarks. He said he used a shad for bait trying to catch blue catfish but instead caught the large hybrid striped bass.
“This wasn’t the first hybrid striped bass we caught,” says McArtor. “We actually caught a pretty decent sized one last year, but it didn’t meet the qualifications for the Department’s master angler program.”
MDC staff verified the record-weight fish using a certified scale in Camdenton. This is the 15th state record fish caught this year by an angler.
“A state record fish can be caught any time of the year, but we normally do not receive many state record fish applications once summer is over, “says MDC Fisheries Programs Specialist Andrew Branson. “But since the weather has been warmer this year a lot people are still fishing, which means a better chance of someone catching a state record fish.”
Missouri state-record fish are recognized in two categories: pole-and-line and alternative methods. Alternative methods include: throwlines, trotlines, limb lines, bank lines, jug lines, spearfishing, snagging, snaring, gigging, grabbing, archery, and atlatl.