FishRook
John Firstium was out trout fishing Saturday with his 15-year-old son and a buddy on two Albany County streams and wasn’t having any luck.
“So, we decide to try a local pond where I know there are panfish,” he said.
Upon arriving, Firstium, 42, figuring there were also bass in the pond, so he tied on a bass lure — a red and yellow diver.
Shortly before 3 p.m., the 42-year-old Averill Park resident hooked and landed a monster largemouth bass on his ultra-lite pole with 4-pound test line – a fish that could have been a new state record.
However, since it is currently the statewide catch and release season for bass, Firstium released the fish back into the pond. But not before measuring it three times, he added, with a 10-inch ruler on the back of a package of hooks that he had.
Firstium said the lunker bass measured 27 inches. He didn’t have a scale, he added, so he didn’t get the fish’s weight. He asked that the name of the pond and its location not be revealed.
The…
