Dave Hochman’s 68.4-pound bass, shot on a reef in Block Island Sound.

Photo courtesy of Dave Hochman

Written by TOM MEADE

Dave Hochman set a world spearfishing record on Independence Day, when he shot a 68.4-pound striped bass on a reef in Block Island Sound. The fish was 55 inches long with a 32.5-inch girth. The diver was in 54 feet of water.

Hochman has been diving on that reef for years, he said, because it holds big bass.

“I know the bottom there better than the charts know the bottom,” he says.

Hochman is a chiropractor who lives in Oxford, Conn. He has shot several bass weighing 58 pounds, his previous personal record.

When he is lining up a shot, Hochman can lower his pulse to 32 beats a minute.

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