State Record Striped Bass Certified

PRESS RELEASE MDWFP

JACKSON – On Saturday, March 5, Rocky Rawls of Gautier was fishing in the West Pascagoula River near his home.  Using a bull minnow for bait, Mr. Rawls hooked and landed a large striped bass. The fish was positively identified by Stan Crider, a fisheries biologist with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks (MDWFP) and was weighed on certified scales. Mr. Rawls fish weighed 39.6 pounds, becoming the new Mississippi state record striped bass! “Catching a state record fish does not happen very often. I was more than happy to certify the lunker striped bass for Mr. Rawls,” said Stan Crider.

Striped Bass are native to Mississippi and are anadromous. While they make spring spawning runs up nearly all of the coastal rivers of Mississippi natural reproduction is limited.  These fish are annually stocked by MDWFP and the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources.  It is very likely that this fish is a result of those stockings.