A Missouri resident caught a 65-pound striped bass at Bull Shoals Lake last week, setting a new Missouri state record for largest fish caught with a fishing pole and line, the Missouri Department of Conservation announced.
Lawrence Dillman of Rockaway Beach, Mo., caught the 65 pound, 2 ounce fish that measured 49 3/4 inches long last Thursday, according to the agency's website. Bull Shoals Lake is in the Ozark Mountains in northern Arkansas and southern Missouri.
The angler used a 20-pound test line and a chub minnow to catch the large fish.
"I fought the giant for over 45 minutes until I got him to shallow water," Dillman told Missouri Department of Conservation officials. "I then bear hugged the fish and got it out of the water onto the bank."
Dillman broke the previous state record of a 60 pound, 9 ounce striped bass caught with a pole and line, the Missouri Department of Conservation said. The state recognizes records set for fish based on catching methods in two categories: pole and line and alternative. Those alternative methods include using throwlines, trotlines, limb lines, bank lines, jug lines and more, the agency's website states.
The agency confirmed the fish's size using a certified scale at the Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery in Taney County, Mo.