Todd Goins was out fishing for largemouth bass on Otter Lake in Girard, Illinois when he hooked into a big wiper. He didn’t have a scale on his boat and didn’t want to kill the fish, so he took some measurements and asked for help.
“I didn’t realize how big it was until I got home and started looking up record hybrids,” says Goins, according to the Evening Tribune.
The white bass-striped bass hybrid measured 31 inches, but Goins didn’t get a good measurement on the girth of the fish. But, fisheries biologist is estimating that the fish weighed 17.63 pounds.
“This fish could be heavier than average for its length, but to get it to a state record of over 20 pounds, it would have to be 30 percent above average, which is not likely. Still, it’s a great hybrid striper,” says biologist Dan Stephenson.
The wiper record for Illinois is “just a shade” over 20 pounds. The world record was landed in Arkansas and weighed 27 pounds, 5 ounces. –Brian McClintock
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