07-22-2003, 07:33 PM
New Jersey Fisherman Stripped Of State Record
TRENTON, NJ--A New Jersey man recently thought to have caught a record fish has been stripped of that honor due to several irregularities. It's the first time that New Jersey officials have rescinded such a record.
Walter Frankowski of Pemberton Township, New Jersey, told the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) he'd caught a 53-inch, 160-pound black drum May 15.
Had that been true, Frankowski's fish had broken the state record by 55 pounds. Officials, however, soon learned Frankowski had weighed the fish while it was in a cooler full of ice on a truck scale with a 40-pound margin of error. They also learned the weighmaster who validated the fish had an expired license and that he hadn't witnessed the fish being weighed.
Frankowski denies any wrongdoing, but admits he should have had the fish officially weighed before making his claim. A DEP spokesman says this is the first time such a record has ever been revoked.
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TRENTON, NJ--A New Jersey man recently thought to have caught a record fish has been stripped of that honor due to several irregularities. It's the first time that New Jersey officials have rescinded such a record.
Walter Frankowski of Pemberton Township, New Jersey, told the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) he'd caught a 53-inch, 160-pound black drum May 15.
Had that been true, Frankowski's fish had broken the state record by 55 pounds. Officials, however, soon learned Frankowski had weighed the fish while it was in a cooler full of ice on a truck scale with a 40-pound margin of error. They also learned the weighmaster who validated the fish had an expired license and that he hadn't witnessed the fish being weighed.
Frankowski denies any wrongdoing, but admits he should have had the fish officially weighed before making his claim. A DEP spokesman says this is the first time such a record has ever been revoked.
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