The Show Me State just can’t stop showing off its big fish.
A 3-pound 14-ounce carpsucker recently snagged out of the Mississippi River by Steven Henson was the sixth fish to break a Missouri state record this year.
The fish shattered the previous record of just 2-pounds 3-ounces that has been on the books since 2008.
According to the Missouri Department of Conservation, the river carpsucker is the most abundant and widely distributed carpsucker in Missouri. This species mainly occurs in the Missouri and Mississippi rivers and their major prairie tributaries in northern and western Missouri. The river carpsucker is considered a sport fish, but is rarely taken on hook-and-line.
So far this year, state records have also been set for 5 other fish in Missouri. The majority of those fish were caught in the spring.
In April, Anthony Schnur caught an absolutely gargantuan longnose gar that tipped the scales at 32-pounds and 10-ounces. It broke the previous record from 1999 by more than 5 pounds. The catch also had a remarkable amount of sentimental value for Schnur.
“I had a good buddy of 30 years who passed away. The funny thing is his wife called me that morning with the news. And she asked me to do her a favor and catch a fish in his name.”
Another state record gar from Missouri also set the world record. A 10-pound 9-ounce spotted gar caught by Devlin Rich this February is the biggest spotted gar ever caught anywhere on earth.
Congrats to Devlin Rich of Williamsville for reeling in this new state record spotted gar! This 10-pound, 9-ounce fish also qualifies for the world record.
Also breaking a state record this year was a 6-pound 2-ounce white sucker that Harvey Smith almost set free before confirming it’s record breaking size.
“I was actually going to turn the fish loose. I didn’t think anything of it, but everybody stopped me saying that it was a huge fish. I guess I plan to get it mounted.”
In early March, Sharon Christopher hooked into a 2-pound 7-ounce yellow perch that set a new state record for the species.
“I got lucky because I am not an avid fisherman. My husband and I were out crappie fishing with some friends of ours when I reeled in this big fish. I wasn’t quite sure what it was, but luckily our friends immediately recognized it as a yellow perch.
The funny thing is, they were in a separate boat pretty far away from us and could tell how big it was.”
Her husband actually almost filleted and ate the record breaking fish.
“My friend stopped him just in time and said, ‘Don’t touch that fish!’ That perch was about to go under the knife, but my friend just said, ‘I think she’s got something.’ And sure enough we put the fish on our scale and saw that it beat the current record.”
Rounding out the the 6 record breakers is a little fish with another wild story.
In late April, Alex Phillips broke the state record for redear sunfish with a 2-pound 1-ounce fish he shot with a bow. His fish broke the state record previously held by his fishing buddy Josh Cole.
“It’s quite a story. I’m a fabricator and had just finished outfitting Josh’s boat for bowfishing. He asked if I wanted to go out with him that night, so I did, and we ended up shooting a lot of fish.
Things were slowing down when Josh said he wanted to check that spot where he caught his record sunfish. I just happened to see four of them together – one of them looked like a dinner plate!
When Josh figured it out, he just let out this big sigh and then we both started laughing. It’s just too funny because we were on his boat, he took me to his honey hole, and I broke his record.”
For more information on how to get started fishing, or to buy your fishing license and start chasing your own state records, explore the Missouri Department of Conservation website.
Please check to make sure you’re in compliance with all Missouri rules and regulations prior to hitting the water.
And as always… Please fish responsibly and leave the whiskey at the dock.
