Big Bass in the Hudson

[mike ohlstein]

55-Pound Striped Bass Caught in Hudson River


ALBANY, N.Y. -- An upstate man is in the New York state record books for catching a fish in the Hudson River that weighed in at more than 50 pounds.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation says Ian Kiraly, 21, of Walton in Delaware County caught the 55-pound striped bass last month in waters near Kingston in Ulster County.

The four-foot-long fish broke the old record for striped bass by about 6 ounces. It took Kiraly more than half an hour to haul in the big fish.

Stripers are the largest temperate bass species in New York. They travel up the Atlantic coast and spawn in the Hudson and Delaware rivers, both estuaries where saltwater and fresh water meet.

DEC officials say striped bass populations have been increasing, drawing thousands of fishermen to the lower and mid-Hudson each spring.

The DEC has set the weekend of June 23 as the annual free fishing days, when anyone can fish in state waters without a license.