<strong>After struggling with</strong> river fishing lately, Blaine Anderson, owner and operator of <a href="http://fishingct.com/">Anderson Guide Services</a>, specializing in the Connecticut River and eastern Long Island Sound, got something amazing to show for his efforts: this monstrous, 74-1/4 lb. striped bass he pulled from the Sound this past Wednesday. The fish measured 57-1/2" with a girth of 32-1/4" based on the IGFA formula. Keep clicking for more photos!
After struggling with river fishing lately, Blaine Anderson, owner and operator of Anderson Guide Services, specializing in the Connecticut River and eastern Long Island Sound, got something amazing to show for his efforts: this monstrous, 74-1/4 lb. striped bass he pulled from the Sound this past Wednesday. The fish measured 57-1/2" with a girth of 32-1/4" based on the IGFA formula. Keep clicking for more photos!.
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Anderson had planned for Wednesday (May 23) to be a day for scouting his favorite haunts with his “good luck charm” Bob Stroby. “I told Bob before we even got in the truck that I had a great feeling about today,” he stated in a blog on his website. “It was pretty foggy on the way down so we took our time and were in the water by 5 headed out under the bridges. Not really sure where to start looking for porgy, we started near my favorite drift in 15 feet of water. The plan was to move progressively deeper till we found them. As it turns out, we didn’t have to go too far. It wasn’t fast action, but we put 6 baits between 11 and 13 inches in the livewell in about 45 minutes. We decided to hit the closest rock pile while we still had some tide left and then return for more bait during the slack.” But what began as a mild day cruising for bait quickly turned into something else when he felt a solid thump on his line.
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“The fish didn’t scream line off the open spool like some do, she just slowly and steadily swam away,” he stated. “I lightly thumbed the spool and let the fish take the line for a five count and pushed the lever drag forward, fish on!”
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After letting out nearly 100 yards of line and then feeling it go slack, Anderson felt a slight pop as the line pulled free of whatever it had hung up. The line changed direction and screamed past him. Anderson jumped off the bow platform and follow the fish to the back of the boat, telling his friend he may want to break out the video camera. Here’s what he shot:
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The fish made another run of almost 100 yards and then headed toward the surface. “I was fairly confident that this was now a caught fish. As long as I didn’t push the drag too hard and possibly part a very frayed line we might actually land this fish. About 75 yards behind the boat, the fish finally came up, wallowing around on the surface. I could clearly see the distance between the dorsal fin and tail and knew she was a huge fish!”
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After applying steady pressure and slow pumps of the rod, the fish was alongside the boat and the fight was over. “I knew it was big, but until I actually grabbed the lower jaw and tried to hoist her over the rail, I had no idea how trully massive she was.” The fish buried the scale on Anderson’s Boga Grip and went well beyond his 49″ tape measure. He took some photos and cut pieces from a fluorocarbon spool to match the catch’s length and girth before putting the fish back in the water and beginning the revival process.
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“In the past, I have spent upwards of 20 minutes working a fish for release but it was clear after 5 minutes that this fish was done. Totally exhausted in the fight, she rolled over. The dorsal was down, the pectoral fins tucked in and she wasn’t pumping enough water through the gills.” Anderson stated in his account. “I don’t enjoy killing big fish like this one and I’d say that 95 percent of bass caught even on my charters are released. I felt we had done just about all we could to release the fish but in the end, she didn’t make it. I probably should have gotten an official weight on her but the closest shop didn’t have a big enough scale and the next closest shop hadn’t opened yet.”
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Once he got his hands on a bigger tape measure from Captain Pat (T-Man) Renna, the measurements were collected on this amazing catch. To read Anderson’s full account and to check out his guide services, visit FishingCT.com or take a look at his Facebook page.

Captain Blaine Anderson, owner and operator of Anderson Guide Services, pulled this monster 74lb. striper from the Long Island Sound on Wednesday, May 23. Check out his amazing photos plus a video of the fight here!

For more information on Anderson’s guide services, which include one or two person light tackel charters, visit his website, call 860-667-4523 or visit his Facebook page.