The 24.3 lb Non World Record Fluke....

[JRodrig692]

Reading the ledger this morning and came across this.

World Record Fluke that will not make the record books because the woman that caught it made one mistake and broke the IGFA rules.

Feel bad for the woman, says she catches a record fluke and the world trashes the crap out of her. Woman had to take a lie detector test.

Gotta love the jealously when it comes to fishing in Jersey.

http://www.nj.com/starledger/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-12/119026402314870.xml&coll=1

 

[JohnS_323]

Geeze, you've got to be kidding me! They disqualified her for that! That's pretty lousy, but as they so autocratically say "rules are rules" (best said with your nose pinched so you sound nasally and whiney).

 

[albie611]

well that stinks......
at least she has the story of "the world record that got away" to tell for the rest of her days....not many can say they even had a shot at it.

 

[debfife]

I think she's just a good liar and her boyfriend (commercial fisherman) netted the fish, gave it to her, and she claims to have caught it.

She holds other records in NJ for saltwater fish..which is what brought many people to believe the fish was netted in the first place.

 

[Subliminal]

Pfffft. Fluke. They're like lil teeny tiny baby halibut.

 

[JRodrig692]

I looked into the story, after Deb's mention and it appears when it was weighed the face was a bit beat up, then she took the fish home with her to "show" friends and it appears a raccoon or something ate it. This "raised" the eyebrow.

Up in the air is a $50,000 In-Fisherman Magazine prize she is after.

 

[chrowski]

Having a boyfriend who commercially fishes for a living and catching a world record fluke will definitely have consequences/suspicion to go along with it. If she honestly caught it then good for her...but I find her b/f's job a little too convenient, I work at a taxidermy part time and we get commercial fishermen bringing in GIANT doormats frequently just to show off. IDK...this one is hard to say...

 

[Hawkeye]

Not a fisherman...really just have questions for the folks who do fish...and anyone that's seen a raccoon in action.

According to the woman...the fish's tail was mangled because...

the boyfriend stepped on the fish to hold it down (and it wasn't damaged via a commercial net),

and

the head was badly damaged because it kept flipping inside the "holder" in the boat to the point of almost popping the latch.

and

that the fish was eaten by a raccoon two days later before it could be photographed/examined again by NJ wildlife officials.

Question - when you haul a big fish into the boat, do you use your foot to hold the fish down? I've never caught anything so big that I'd put my foot on it but maybe this is normal practice?

Question - The raccoon thing is unheardof. But I'll indulge the possibility and ask the board here some questions since I really don't know...

- a) can a raccoon flip a cooler that has a 20 pound fish plus ice inside?
It seems awfully heavy to me that an animal (besides a bear) could do that. Thoughts?

- b) can a raccoon smell a rotting fish (albeit on ice) inside a cooler inside a garage?
I'd imagine the answer to this is yes and therefore plausible. Thoughts?

- c) How much fish can a racoon eat?
The fluke was found with 1/3 of it's body missing, or 8 pounds of fish meat. I guess if it were really hungry and other scavengers also had some later. More of a rhetorical question on my part.

Each of these events alone seem plausible to me - but like I said I'm not a fisherman so maybe you guys see a smoking gun here. It does (to a layman's point of view) seem almost homer simpson-esque that someone who caught a world-record fish would treat that fish so badly before it is "officially recognized" by the state.

 

[mikem]

Yes you do have to hold it down with your foot to get the hook out.
I've never had a damaged fish from flopping around in my holding tank.
Yes a Racoon can flip a the cooler.
I've had coons chew open a sealed bucket filled with fish remains. Theres an oil from the fish that the smell don't go away for days, even when cleaned with soap and water.
Don't know how much they can eat, but I threw out a 15 pound turkey one day that defrosted and started going bad. Woke up in the morning with the coon in the can with half the turkey gone.

 

[debfife]

You wouldn't damage the fluke's tail by stepping on it to get the hook out.

I've never seen a fluke injure itself from flopping around inside the box.