Potential World Record Striped Bass Rejected by IGFA and Fish and Game

Sign up for the Quick Strike Newsletter The hottest fishing news, tips, and tacticsWhen Rodney Ply got a call from his friend Chad Whited on the morning of Feb. 18 to go fishing on Bull Shoals Lake in Arkansas, he politely declined. Thirty minutes later, Whited's truck was in his driveway and Whited was hooking up Ply's 18'6" 175 Starfire with a 150 pro-v Yamaha engine. Looking back, it's hard to say if it would have been better for Ply to stay home that day. On one hand, he ended up catching a massive striped bass weighing 68 pounds that could have broken the landlocked record. On the other hand, catching that fish and the chaos that followed caused Ply to go through the heartbreak of losing out on $1 million. Story by Scott Yorko; photos courtesy of Rodney Ply, Farris Brotherton, and Ken ShirleyTwenty-four days earlier, Ply had registered for Mustad's Hook-a-Million contest, where contestants could win $100,000 for any state record fish they catch, and $1 milion for a world record. The only catch: Fishermen have to use a Mustad hook, which was no problem for Ply. "I use nothing but Mustads," he said. That day Ply told his wife, "Tina, 'I think I might catch a state record largemouth today.' My wife chuckled. I think I'm gonna catch a big one every time I go."Ply had been trying out his prototype, an umbrella-type lure complete with three baits and just two hooks (one bait is a teaser). It has five blades and the whole thing weighs 1.4 ounces. "I got the idea when the Bill Dance spinner bait came out with five blades on it–big to little, all on one shaft. I thought, 'why not have multiple shafts?' Five shafts gives a spinner bait tremendous balance," Ply explained. It's designed to look like a bait pod.Ply and Whited decided to fish a spot on Bull Shoals called Peel. They got the boat in the water around 11:15 a.m. and started fishing a small pocket in 15 feet of water. It wasn't long before a fish took the bait and immediately went deep. The fight went on for 10 minutes. Ply had to put his trolling motor on high to chase the fish down, and he played the fight carefully to not break the line. https://www.outdoorlife.com/photos/gallery/fishing/2012/08/potential-world-record-striped-bass-rejected-igfa-and-fish-and-game-a/

Potential World Record Striped Bass Rejected by IGFA and Fish and Game, Angler Loses Out on $1 Million

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Potential World Record Striped Bass Rejected by IGFA and Fish and Game, Angler Loses Out on $1 Million

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