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Annapolis, MD - For the second time this month a state fishing record has been shattered by a Maryland angler. Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Fisheries Service personnel announce that the new record Spanish mackerel record stands at 8.45 pounds and measures an incredible 32.5 inches.
Buddy Fuller, 17, of Mechanicsville (St. Mary^s County) is the new record holder. Buddy was fishing on the charterboat "Lisa S" out of Schieble^s Fishing Center in St. Inigoes on Aug. 16 trolling near the Target Ship in the Chesapeake Bay when the mackerel slammed a small, gold, Huntington Drone spoon
"It felt like a regular Rockfish to me," Buddy said. ‘Then after I got it in the boat people were saying, ‘That^s the biggest mackerel I^ve ever seen.^ I couldn^t believe it was a record breaker. I was astonished."
Buddy said he^s fished since he was a child and that he fishes charters about three to four times per year with family members. Fishing runs in the family. His grandfather runs a seafood market in Mechanicsville.
Buddy, a recent graduate of Chopticon High School, has no competitive fishing plans. "I call this a luck kind of thing," he said.
The winning fish was checked in at Moeller^s Texaco in Lexington Park (St. Mary^s County) and was certified by DNR Fisheries Biologist Brian O^Roark.
"Buddy^s fish was originally weighed on non-certified scales," O^Roark said. "When it was weighed late Tuesday (Aug. 24) afternoon on certified scales, it almost certainly lost a half to three-quarters of a pound. Still, there is no denying that this was a very big Spanish mackerel. For a species whose maximum size is accepted to be approximately 30 inches, this was indeed a very big fish."
The drought has prompted higher salinity counts in the bay, creating better conditions for more southern species of fish to come further into the bay, said DNR Fisheries Biologist Marty Gary.
"We consider mackerel in the bay an episodic fishery," Gary said. "Typically you can catch them from mid August until September. But with the current conditions, we^re finding that they^re running from the Virginia line to the bay bridge. "
To catch Spanish mackerel, the fisheries biologists said anglers should troll between five and seven knots with silver or gold Cather, Clark or Drone spoons. "Anglers should be looking for leaping fish," Gary said. "They^re [Spanish mackerel] extremely fast."
"Chesapeake Bay fishing the last couple of years has been incredible," he added. "Blue(fish), Rock(fish), Spanish mackerel, you could catch anyone of these species on any cast at this time. We have the numbers of fish, the diversity and it^s just a lot of fun. All this is further indication that things are improving environmentally."
The previous state record for a Spanish Mackerel was 6 pounds, 8 ounces and was caught by Thomas Boyle off Breezy Point (Calvert County) in September 1998.
A beautiful, walnut state record plaque in the shape of the State of Maryland has been ordered for Buddy and will be given to him in a brief ceremony later this year.
Uploaded: 9/2/1999
Uploaded: 9/2/1999