¡Dios de la Caballa!!! Ahora, ese es un pez en el río Hudson

When 37-year old Everitt Polman of Rock Tavern, New York went fishing on the Hudson River near the Bear Mountain Bridge in Orange County two weeks ago, he never in his wildest dreams thought he would reel in such a gigantic fish.  What Polman caught was a striped bass, but not your run-of-the-mill striped bass.

How does 47 inches and 51.27 pounds sound?  You read that right.  Polman told newyorkupstate.com “It’s a day I’ll never forget.”

Polman was with his longtime fishing buddy Ralph Scala.  When he snared the massive fish, Polman says it just laid on the bottom of the river.  Then after a few minutes the striped bass made a run, um, swim for it, before it surfaced approximately 20 feet from his boat.

It is the biggest striped bass Polman has ever caught.  While it isn’t the largest striped bass ever caught in New York State, it was pretty close to the record.  The record was set back in 2014, a 60 pounder measuring 53 inches in length.

According to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, new striped bass regulations went into effect last month.  Any fish measuring 40 inches or more, must be returned to the river.

Striped bass are migratory.  They spend most of their time in coastal waters, but they return to the Hudson River every spring to spawn. They then return to the Atlantic Ocean.

So, at least for one afternoon, Polman can say he was the big man on the Hudson. Ironically, Polman had snagged another huge, striped bass earlier that afternoon.  That one measured 40 inches.