I wrote about this beast of a fish and the story behind the catch for my column in today’s Times-Dispatch. There was only room for one picture in the paper, so I figured I’d share a couple more here. The catch, by Manassas native Cary Wolfe, went 74 pounds even and was 57.75 inches long. The captain, Tim Cannon, said he and Virginia Marine Resources Commission representative Lewis Gillingham were surprised, based on the length of the fish, that it didn’t weigh more. The female only had a couple of eels in its stomach, Cannon said, despite being caught in and area loaded with menhaden, the rockfish’s preferred meal. He guessed that if she had been well fed, she might have broken the world record of 81.88 pounds set in August.

The fish on ice at the Richmond Fishing Expo.

 The angler with his catch at the Long Bay Pointe Marina in Virginia Beach.