He Settled for the Unofficial Largest Smallmouth Bass—So His Wife Could Have Fishcakes
A nearly two-foot bass caught in a small pond tips the scales above the state record — but ends up as dinner.
A Lower Symes Pond angler has landed what would have been Vermont’s new state record smallmouth bass — if he hadn’t filleted it first.
Andrew Oestringer’s fish measured nearly two feet long and weighed 7 pounds, 6 ounces on his personal scale. That’s 10 ounces heavier than the official state record. But because the weight wasn’t certified on an official scale, Vermont Fish and Wildlife is calling it an “unofficial record.”
“It’s rare but not unheard of for anglers who plan to keep a nice fish for dinner to grab an unofficial weight at home, realize their catch might have been a record, and reach out,” said Shawn Good, fish biologist and administrator of Vermont’s State Record Fish Program. “Even though Fish & Wildlife can’t accept the weight from a non-certified scale for our official record books, we can all agree this new ‘unofficial record’ is one heck of a fish story.”
From Record Book to Recipe Book
Oestringer told Compass Vermont he wasn’t certain the fish was record-breaking when he pulled it in from his kayak. He doesn’t usually eat smallmouth bass, but his wife had asked for fishcakes — her preferred way to eat them.
Instead of driving the fish to an official weigh-in, he scaled and filleted it at home. He added onions, peppers, breadcrumbs, egg, and a dash of Old Bay seasoning — a staple from his years living in Maryland crab country — before frying up the meal.
“It’s a dream come true for me,” Oestringer said of the catch. “There is no better place to fish than Vermont. Smallies, trout, pickerel, pike — Vermont has endless opportunities.”
Big Year for Big Bass
Oestringer’s smallmouth wasn’t the only standout catch this season. Earlier this month, Fair Haven Middle & High School student James Lenox reeled in a 7-pound largemouth bass from Lake Bomoseen. That fish was also kept for the table but still qualified for the state’s Master Angler Program, which tracks notable catches.
Other 7-plus-pound bass recorded this year include Joshua Curtis’s 7-pound, 13-ounce largemouth from Neal Pond and Roy Gangloff’s 7-pound, 8-ounce largemouth from Lake Champlain.
“Small lakes and ponds are the overlooked gems of bass fishing in Vermont, but they support fish every ounce as impressive as the trophies that draw anglers from around the country to fish Lake Champlain,” Good said.
What Happens Next
Though Oestringer won’t appear in Vermont’s official record books, the Fish and Wildlife Department is standing by its recognition of his “unofficial record” bass. For the angler, the memory — and the meal — are enough.
Fish and Wildlife biologists note that late summer and fall are peak times for bass fishing in Vermont, meaning more trophy-sized catches may yet surface this year.