North Carolina Striped Bass Record Broken Twice in One Week

Apparently the NC fishing record for striped bass was been broken last week at Oregon Inlet. Then, it was broken again.

Believe it or not, two NC state record stripers were decked in some furious striper fishing at Oregon Inlet last week.

On Wednesday a NC record striped bass weighing 63 pounds was caught by 12-year-old Stephen Furlough while fishing with guide Charles Haywood aboard the boat Rigged Up just outside of Oregon Inlet.

The feel-good story of young Stephen's catch lasted only two days however, as on Friday angler Keith Angel pulled in a new NC record 64-pound striped bass while fishing with guide Devin Cage on The Poacher.

Both of the huge stripers were weighed in at the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center where the paperwork was filled out for the state records.

Young Furlough indicated he wanted his fish mounted, while Angel wanted the paperwork processed fast so his fish could be filleted.

"I'm taking it home to eat!" said Angel.

According to Cage, the big striper Angel caught hit a blue-headed lure trolled on a parachute rig.

"There was another lure on that rig, and Keith also had a fish hooked on it," said Cage. "The second fish weighed about 15 pounds, so he was fighting 79 pounds of striper all at the same time.

Angel's 64-lb striped bass measured 53 1/4 inches in length and 33 3/4 inches in girth.

"I thought the fish (Furlough) caught a couple days before might remain the state record for 20 years," Cage said. "Now, after Angel's fish, and seeing how many monster stripers are out there, the 64-pounder might not hold up for a week."

The previous record NC striped bass was a 62-pounder taken at Oregon Inlet in 2005. The world record striped bass is a 78 ½ lb fish caught in Atlantic City, NJ in 1982.

For more fishing articles and links see my blog A Dash of Salty and my website Surf and Salt.