Scale-Shattering Arkansas Striped Bass: Not a State Record but Possibly Worth $1 Million
OutdoorHub Reporters 05.21.12
A series of setbacks has prevented Rodney Ply from registering his striped bass as an Arkansas state record even though it weighed 4 pounds more than the current state record-holder. However, his big fish beat the world record for a landlocked striped bass by about half a pound and Ply may win $1 million if the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) honors his catch, and no angler catches a bigger fish in the next three months.
Here’s how the story came to this odd conclusion.
Ply and his friend Chad Whited have fished Bull Shoals Lake since childhood. They entered Mustad’s “Hook-a-Million” contest, wherein state record fish catches win $100,000 and world record catches win $1 million.
On February 18 Ply landed a striped freshwater bass from Bull Shoals Lake that weighed 68 pounds even, shattering the current state record by 4 pounds, and the world record by half a pound, according to Jack Vitek, IGFA records coordinator. The fish was weighed at 125 Marina. The problem was that the scale was not certified at the time. After the fact, it was certified and found to be in working condition.
In addition, a state wildlife official must bear witness to the weighing. When Ply called a warden to meet him to weigh the fish, the warden told him to meet him at a grocery store with a scale 30 miles from the marina. Upon arrival, they found the scale was too small to accommodate the fish.
It was deemed that the fish would not be recognized as a state record because “post-catch protocol was not followed.” Ply appealed his case via e-mail to the director of Arkansas Game and Fish, Loren Hitchcock. She sternly replied that she would not bend the rules for him.
Yet, not all hope is lost. The International Game Fish Association (IGFA) has certified the scale that Ply used to weigh his fish and sworn statements from other witnesses will satisfy their requirements. They are currently reviewing the bait caught the fish with. Ply used a patent-pending lure that he designed; he calls it a bass-tricker lure. It is a multi-arm umbrella rig, similar to an Alabama rig. This could be a sticky situation for Ply. The IGFA will have to decide whether it is acceptable although that could take a few weeks, up to a few months, to go through various committees before a decision is made.
