Virginia: Striped Bass

My first trophy of the day, a beautiful 49-incher, tied for my personal best by length

My third and final trophy of the day, a 45-incher

The wind that wreaked havoc on my late summer and fall fishing in 2025 persisted into December, but fortunately my buddy Wes (wcsportfishing.com) and I found a good weather window, albeit with a delayed start because of a small craft advisory in the morning.  Fortunately, the fish were as hungry as I was at lunch time and I had my first citation in the boat around noon.  This beauty went 49 inches and weighed about 40 pounds.  This tied my personal best of 49 inches, also caught with Wes, from December 2021.  Just 30 minutes later, I had landed citations number two (46") and three (45").  The bite slowed after that and I missed another citation by two inches, but I definitely did not complain.  It was another fantastic day on the water with a captain who delivers trophy stripers like none other.

Interestingly, my 49-inch fish also potentially beats the IGFA world record for released striper [124 cm = 48.8 inches], something I did not find out about until almost a month later.  That could be a fun goal for the future!