Projo Fishing: HotBytes

Dave Hochman and his new world record shot in Block Island Sound

Dave Hochman set a new world spear-fishing record on Independence Day when he shot a 68.4-pound striped bass on a reef in Block Island Sound. The fish was 55 inches long with a 32.5-inch girth. The diver was in 54 feet of water.

Hochman has been diving on that reef for years, he said, because it holds big bass. Often, the fish cannot be detected on sonar from the surface. "I know the bottom there better than the charts know the bottom," he says.

Hochman is a chiropractor who lives in Oxford, Conn. He has shot several bass weighing 58 pounds, his previous personal record.

His record bass weighed 3.3 pounds more than the previous record, a 65.1-pound fish, shot last year by Dan O'Neil of East Providence.

See the whole story in Outdoor Notes for July 13 in the Outdoor Section of www.projo.com.

 Tags  fishing Rhode Island saltwater spear fishing world record

Comments

LoveToFish said:

So I love to fish too, but I feel guilty bleeding my keepers (and my biggest was 40 inches, 16 pounds) even though I totally fish to eat what I catch. I've vowed that I would release anything bigger than 25 pounds though as they are probably big mama fish that will help keep the species going. Don't you feel bad killing these big mamas? You know you're jeopardizing your sport by keeping these big girls? Do you ever think about that? Congrats on the big fish, but is this what you should be doing? Is a record worth it?

Link | July 23, 2008 10:30 PM
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