The World Record Striped Bass

81 pounds 14 ounces. Gregory Myerson caught it in Long Island Sound off Westbrook, Connecticut, on 4 August 2011, on a live eel. IGFA lists it as the approved All-Tackle world record at 37.14 kg, ending Albert McReynolds' 29-year hold on the title.

The fish measured 54 inches. That number matters more than it looks, and it is why this record may stand for a very long time.

The record

Read directly from IGFA's World Record database, checked 31 August 2026:

In Myerson's own account to IGFA: "After a 15-minute fight, I got the striped bass close enough to the boat for netting." The fish measured 54 inches and went 81.88 pounds on the scale the following morning.

Why this record is now unusually hard to beat

Two rules collide, and neither is negotiable.

First, how a weight record is proved. IGFA requires that "all fish submitted for record consideration must be weighed on scales that have been certified for accuracy by government agencies or other qualified and accredited organizations within the past 12 months." In practice that means the fish comes out of the water and goes to a certified scale. You cannot claim a weight record on a fish you released.

Second, what you are allowed to keep. Since Addendum II took effect on 1 May 2024, the coastal recreational striped bass fishery has run a 28 to 31 inch slot limit with a one-fish bag. Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's Addendum III, approved in October 2025, did not change the ocean recreational slot or bag.

Myerson's fish was 54 inches. In the coastal fishery today, a striper that size goes back in the water.

So the practical position is this: to break the record you would have to catch a fish you are not allowed to keep, and you cannot prove a weight record without keeping it.

One caveat worth stating plainly, because it is the kind of detail that gets flattened: the 28–31 inch slot described above is the coastal/ocean recreational measure. Chesapeake Bay and other producer-area fisheries are managed separately with their own rules, and states can be more restrictive than the coastwide standard. Check the agency for the water you are fishing.

Which is exactly why the other record book exists

IGFA keeps a second category for this reason. All-Tackle Length World Records are kept for the longest fish of each eligible species caught under the angling rules "and released alive." No certified scale, no dead fish — a measurement and a release.

The current striped bass All-Tackle Length record:

Note the last row is listed as Pending, not approved — a claim under review is not yet a record, and it is worth being precise about that.

For a species under active rebuilding measures, the length record is not a consolation prize. It is the version of record chasing that the fishery can actually afford.

Where the big ones are

The record book itself is a map. Every striped bass record above comes from the mid-Atlantic or southern New England:

• Long Island Sound — the All-Tackle weight record
• Chesapeake Bay — the All-Tackle Length record and a fly length record. See our Chesapeake Bay spot page; it is the nursery and highway for East Coast stripers, which is precisely why the big ones are there.
• Montauk — a pending fly length record. Our Montauk spot page covers "The End" and its autumn run.
• Shinnecock Inlet and Gay Head, Massachusetts — line class records

That is not coincidence. It is where the stock lives.

Handling, if you are going to release a big one

Given the above, most large stripers you encounter are fish you will be putting back — so the release is the skill that matters.

• Keep it in the water. A big striper held up by the jaw at a bad angle can be damaged internally by its own weight.
• Support it horizontally with two hands if you must lift it, and keep it brief.
• Use a net you can actually fit the fish in, and wet your hands.
• Revive it facing into current until it swims off under its own power rather than dropping it back.
• Circle hooks are required when fishing with bait in many striped bass fisheries precisely because they reduce gut-hooking. Check your state's rule.

There is a hard reason behind all of this. ASMFC's 2024 assessment put female spawning stock biomass at 191 million pounds against a threshold of 197 million — the stock is overfished, and the Board is required to rebuild it by 2029.

Recruitment is the worrying part. Age-1 striped bass came in below the long-term average in 7 of the last 10 years, with 2023 at 95 million fish against a time-series average of 137 million. ASMFC has specifically flagged 7 consecutive years of low recruitment in Chesapeake Bay.

That is the same Chesapeake Bay that produced the All-Tackle Length record in the table above. The water still holds enormous fish; what it has not been reliably producing is the next generation of them. A released fish that dies anyway counts against that without feeding anyone.

Related

• Montauk — the autumn surfcasting run
• Chesapeake Bay — where the length record came from
• Striped bass — identification, range and diet
• The world record king salmon — 97 lb 4 oz, and a race to the scales
• The world record largemouth bass — where two ounces decided everything

Sources

• IGFA World Record database — Bass, striped — Myerson 37.14 kg, Long Island Sound, Westbrook CT, 4 Aug 2011, Approved; the All-Tackle Length, Length Fly and Length Junior entries and their statuses. Read 31 August 2026.
• IGFA — Striped Bass Bonanza — Myerson's account of the fight, the 54-inch measurement, the 81.88 lb official weight, and McReynolds' 29-year reign.
• IGFA World Record Requirements — the 12-month scale certification requirement, and that All-Tackle Length records are for fish released alive.
• Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission — Atlantic Striped Bass — the 28–31 inch slot and one-fish bag under Addendum II, effective 1 May 2024; that Addendum III did not change the ocean recreational measures; the 2024 assessment (female SSB 191 million lb against a 197 million lb threshold, stock overfished, rebuilding required by 2029); and recruitment below the long-term average in 7 of the last 10 years, including 7 consecutive low years in Chesapeake Bay.