Fish estimated at 30 to 35 pounds
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Courtesy photo
On July 29, Mike Kopicky,right, and Tony Carosa were fishing for stripers at the mouth of the San Juan using anchovies for bait and catching a lot of fish. The school was down about 35 feet and very agreeably eating bait. That all changed when Mike hooked into a huge striped bass and fought it for 25 minutes before Tony netted it and hoisted it into the boat.
Mike is from Breckenridge Colo., and was using 12-pound test line to land the monster. They were able to measure the fish at 42 inches but did not have a scale to weigh it. My best guess when comparing the picture of this fish with the recent catches of other big fish over the past 5 years is that the weight was between 30 and 35 pounds. These large fish usually are between 8 and 10 years old.
Mike and Tony tried to release the trophy, but it could not swim back down to the 35 foot depth where big fish have to live due to the warm surface water temperature of the lake. The fish was kept and filleted.
Congratulations to Mike and Tony for catching the biggest striper to be caught in 2017.
