OFFICIAL MARYLAND STATE RECORDS

RULES AND PROCEDURES

1. Entries may be submitted at any time during the tournament year.
2. Fish must be a species commonly fished for with rod and reel and caught by legal methods during a legally open season.
3. The fish must be considered "trophy sized."
4. The catch must be weighed on scales of an official citation center and certified by a designated biologist from the Department of Natural Resources.
5. It is the responsibility of the angler to fill out completely and accurately the official Maryland Sport Fishing Tournament entry blank. A side view photograph of the catch must accompany the entry and the actual tackle used must be exhibited to the agent of the citation center.
6. Fish which are caught from pay to fish areas are not eligible for record consideration.
7. Citation Centers and anglers should immediately notify the Maryland Sport Fishing Tournament Office of a potential State Record fish as soon as possible.
   Tournament Office Contact Information
   Tournament Manager: Angel Bolinger
   Toll Free Number: 1-877-620-8DNR ext. 8294
   Direct: 410-260-8294
   Fax: 410-260-8279
   *Late day or weekend catches should be immersed in ice water until the tournament office is notified.
8. Positive identification of the species of fish is mandatory for consideration of State Record applications. The actual fish must be inspected by a Department of Natural Resources biologist.
9. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources reserves the right to investigate the methods used in catching the fish and the accuracy of measuring and weighing. It also reserves the right to reject any application.

• Although citations are awarded based on length only, all fish being considered for State Records must be weighed. This is because existing records have been maintained by weight. If the citation center you visit does not have a certified scale, a biologist from the Department of Natural Resources will verify the weight and species.

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Bel Air Angler Catches Record Tautog in Chesapeake Bay

POINT LOOKOUT – The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced that on Oct. 29, Gary Halbeisen of Bel Air caught a 9-pound, 25-inch tautog in the waters off Point Lookout, a new state record for the fish in the Chesapeake Bay. Tautog are most commonly encountered in the water of the Atlantic Ocean. Halbeisen was chumming for striped bass along the eastern edge of the shipping channel near the American Mariner Target ship. He was fishing aboard the charter boat Jill Carrie out of Deale captained by Jim Brincefield. Gary reported the action for striped bass was excellent, with most fish in the 18- to 24-inch class. What happened next surprised everyone on the boat. While chumming in 24 feet of water on the flood tide, a large fish took Halbeisen's razor clam bait. At first he thought he might have one of the early run, large migrant stripers that had been reported in the area. However, when the fish sounded and "bulled" its way down to the bottom, he knew it had to be something else. That something turned out to be a record-setting tautog later certified by a DNR Fisheries Service biologist.

While tautog can be found in Maryland's waters of Chesapeake Bay from late autumn through early spring, most are smaller, in the 2- to 3-pound class. Halbeisen's fish is considered unusually large, and will be recognized as the benchmark Chesapeake citation for this species.

Record tautog vital statistics:

Angler - Gary Halbeisen / 410-570-1619

Hometown - Bel Air, MD

Date caught – October 29, 2005

Location - Target Ship east of Point Lookout in 24' of water

Weight - 9 pounds

Bait - Razor Clam

Photo courtesy of Capt. Jim Brincefield.

ATLANTIC
Species	Weight	Angler	Date	Catch Location
Albacore	70.1 lbs.	Gary Lee Withers	11/08/00	Rockpile - West of Poorman's Canyon
Atlantic Spadefish	7 lbs., 12.8 oz	Bill Jacobs	09/03/00	Winter Quarter Shoal
Black Seabass	8lbs.	Hayward Madison	1978	Jackspot
Bluefish	23 lbs., 8 oz	Lillian Morris	10/30/74	Assateague Island
Dolphin	67 lbs., 8 oz	Kim Lawson	07/21/85	53 miles off Ocean City
Drum, Black	79 lbs.	Stanley Ilyes	09/07/85	Bass Grounds
Drum, Red	70 lbs.	Robert Light	09/24/77	Assateague Island
False Albacore	22 lbs., 8 oz	Kevin Sheckells	06/25/95	Third Lump
Flounder	17 lbs.	Anthony Vacari	10/03/74	Assategue Island
King Mackerel	47 lbs.	Gerald Kauffman	10/18/85	Big Gulf
Kingfish	2 lbs., 8 oz	Grace Walker	10/01/75	Assateague Island
Porgy	6 lbs., 3 oz	Pearl Hopple	07/04/66	Fenwick Shoal
Marlin, Blue	942 lbs.	Jim Daniel	08/09/89	Poor Mans Canyon
White Marlin	135 lbs	George Pierson	08/29/80	Poor Mans Canyon
Shark, Black Tip	193 lbs.	Brian Zysk	08/04/91	Ocean City
Shark, Blue	280 lbs.	Martin Waltman	09/13/97	Ocean City
Shark, Dusky*	469 lbs.	Jim Liberto	07/01/82	Ocean City
Shark, Great White	467 lbs.	Jack Holmes	06/11/92	Ocean City
Shark, Hammerhead, Scalloped	191 lbs.	Larry Pendleton	08/20/93	Ocean City
Shark, Hammerhead, Smooth	165 lbs.	Gary King	08/05/93	Ocean City
Shark, Mako	766 lbs.	Frank Gaither	05/25/84	First Lump
Shark, Sand Tiger*	334 lbs	Billy Leidner	09/08/83	Ocean City
Shark, Sandbar	235 lbs	Mark Sampson	07/08/83	Ocean City
Shark, Dogfish, Smooth	15 lbs., 5 oz.	Gregg Bacchien	05/22/93	Ocean City
Shark, Dogfish, Spiny	11 lbs., 8 oz.	Meyels Sampson	05/17/93	Ocean City
Shark,Thresher	585 lbs.	Donnie Simon	06/04/99	Ocean City
Shark, Tiger	1,210 lbs.	Grace Czerniak	07/09/83	Ocean City
Sheepshead	16 lbs., 2 oz	Kevin Blouch	10/07/95	Ocean City Inlet
Spotted Seatrout	13 lbs.	Jack Miller	08/21/73	Sinepuxent Bay
Striped Bass	52 lbs., 8 oz	Chris Salp	05/11/03	Assateague Island
Tautog	19 lbs., 8 oz	Noah King	05/10/80	Jackspot
Tuna, Bigeye	375 lbs., 8 oz	Cecil Browne	08/26/77	Ocean City
Tuna,Blackfin	32 lbs.	Bob Zang	09/20/98	30 Fathom Line
Tuna, Bluefin	625 lbs.	James Daniels, IV	08/03/75	45 miles East of Ocean City
Tuna, Yellowfin	187 lbs.	Dennis Lorah	07/25/98	Baltimore Canyon
Wahoo	111 lbs.	Christian Tiller	10/08/03	Poor Man's Canyon
Weakfish	16 lbs.	Donald Cannon	09/11/76	Ocean City Inlet

*Indicates species is no longer eligible for State record consideration.

CHESAPEAKE BAY
Species	Weight	Angler	Date	Catch Location
Black Drum	103 lbs., 8 oz	Robert Messik Jr.	09/23/73	Buoy #16
Bluefish	22 lbs.	John Davidson	10/18/79	Off Queen Anne Marina
		Ronald Raffo	05/31/86	Hackett's Point
		Thomas R. Talbott	05/08/91	Chesapeake Beach
Carp	44 lbs., 6 oz	Jimmy Lake	04/28/78	Morgantown Beach
Catfish, Channel	29 lbs., 10 oz	Kevin Kern	04/26/97	Mattawoman Creek
Chain Pickerel	6lbs., 8 oz	James Grant	05/19/65	Susquehanna River
Cobia	97 lbs., 12 oz	John Scheifele	09/12/69	Middle Grounds
Crappie	2 lbs., 10 oz	Lawrence Rush	04/04/02	Swann Creek
Croaker	6 lbs., 3 oz	Rome Tull	07/09/80	Puppy Hole
Flounder	15 lbs.	Kenneth Grimes	10/14/78	Buoy #50
Hickory Shad*	4 lbs.	John Schaeffer Jr.	07/23/71	Susquehanna River
Largemouth Bass	9 lbs., 1 oz	J.D. Noell	09/13/75	Pocomoke River
Norfolk Spot	2 lbs.	Parlett Moore	09/05/78	Tangier Sound
Red Drum	74 lbs., 6 oz	Earnest Hutchinson	05/15/77	Tangier Sound
Rock Bass	1 lb	Timothy A. Adams	05/04/97	Susquehanna River
Sheepshead	6 lbs., 5.92 oz	Tom Horan	09/25/99	Middle Grounds
Smallmouth Bass	6 lbs.	Charles Janes	07/23/71	Susquehanna River
Spanish Mackerel	9 lbs., 6.4 oz	Joseph E. Haller	10/10/99	Kenwood Beach
Spotted Seatrout	16 lbs., 6 oz	John Phillips	05/15/77	Roaring Point
Striped Bass	67 lbs., 8 oz	Devin Nolan	05/13/95	Bloody Point
Weakfish	16 lbs., 8 oz	Wayne Lappe	05/08/79	Nanticoke River
White Perch	2 lbs., 10 oz	Sid Stollings	05/18/79	Dundee Creek
White Shad*	8 lbs., 2 oz	Vance Carter	05/03/75	Wicomico River
Yellow Perch	2 lbs., 3 oz	Niles Pethel	11/21/79	Marsh Creek

*Indicates species is no longer eligible for State record consideration.

FRESHWATER
Species	Weight	Angler	Date	Catch Location
Bass, Largemouth	11 lbs., 2 oz	Rodney Cockrell	10/04/83	Farm Pond
Bass, Smallmouth	8 lbs., 4 oz	Gary Peters	10/04/74	Liberty Reservoir
Striped Bass	47 lbs, 2 oz	Robert Bruce	09/14/00	Liberty Reservoir
Bluegill	3 lbs., 7 oz	Sarah Brenneman	8/09/98	Deep Creek Lake
Carp	47 lbs., 8 oz	Wayne Longenecker	06/11/97	Frederick County Farm Pond
Catfish, Blue	53 lbs.	Michael Kingree	12/06/01	Potomac River at Greenway Flats
Catfish, Channel	27 lbs.	Kenneth Foland	10/20/83	Red Rock-Potomac
Chain Pickerel	7 lbs. 4 oz	Roy Molick, Sr.	11/27/76	Johnson Pond
Crappie	4 lbs., 4 oz	Gary Williams	09/27/87	Indian Acres
Northern Pike	24 lbs., 12 oz	Shawn Jacobson	10/16/99	Deep Creek Lake
Tiger Muskellunge	29 lbs, 4.75 oz	Kevin Conner	2/14/97	Dam # 5
Perch, White	1 lb. 5 oz	Joshua Hudgins	08/15/00	Liberty Reservoir
Perch, Yellow	2 lbs., 6 oz	Charles Morgan	06/08/83	Deep Creek Lake
Red Ear Sunfish	2 lbs., 5 oz	Vittie Alkocius	06/04/85	Gilbert Run
Rock Bass	1 lb., 3 oz	Andy Grosko	10/26/98	Liberty Reservoir
Trout, Brook	6lbs., 1.75 oz	Mike Fiorita, Jr.	04/10/99	North Branch of the Potomac River below Randolph Dam
Trout, Brown	18 lbs., 3 oz	Gary Kuhn	08/03/01	North Branch of Potomac at Barnum
Trout, Cutthroat	7 lbs. 9 oz	David G. Martin	05/20/00	North Branch of Potomac at Barnum
Trout, Rainbow	14 lbs., 3 oz	Dave Schroyer	10/21/87	Savage River Reservoir
Walleye	14 lbs., 4 oz	John McCarley	05/16/98	Jennings Randolph Reservoir