A new Iowa state record has been set for white bass. Josh Zylstra, 23, was fishing on Big Sprit Lake when he landed the 18.7-inch, 4.16 pound fish.
Zylstra said he had finished eating supper when he thought he would fish a little from the dock in Anglers Bay before going back out in the boat. His shiner under a bobber was intended for walleyes he said, but instead, it hooked a new state record white bass.
He didn’t know what he had until it was out of the water. “I knew it was a good fish,” he said. “I never thought twice about a state record.”
Zylstra has caught a lot of large white bass from the area lakes, but this one was special and his uncle said that fish would probably push for the record.
The new record was verified by fisheries biologist Mike Hawkins who weighed the fish on a certified scale at Pioneer Beach Resort.
source: Iowa Department of Natural Resources