Warsaw, Mo. angler Jason Reynolds shows off the new alternative methods state record walleye for the state of Missouri. The 6-pound, 14-ounce walleye was caught on a jug line at Truman Reservoir on Nov. 5. (Photos courtesy of Missouri Department of Conservation)
November 28, 2018
By Lynn Burkhead
It’s been said that lightning never strikes the same place twice. But when it comes to fishing in Missouri, apparently that sentiment isn’t entirely true.
That’s because Warsaw, Mo., resident Jason Reynolds recently set a new Show Me State benchmark when he caught a 6-pound, 14-ounce walleye on a jug line while at Truman Reservoir in Benton County on Nov. 5, 2018.
Verified by state officials on a certified scale at the Lost Valley Hatchery in Warsaw, Reynolds’ new walleye record becomes Missouri’s seventh state record catch of 2018.
Now at the top of the state’s alternative-method category (which includes jug lines, throwlines, trotlines, limb lines, bank lines, spearfishing, snagging, snaring, gigging, grabbing, and archery) the Reynolds walleye beats the old Missouri alternative mark by 1 pound, 1 ounce.
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Incidentally, the Missouri pole-and-line walleye record — the other category that the state recognizes legal catches with — is a 21-pound, 1-ounce bruiser caught on March 26, 1988 by Gerry H. Partlow of Linneus, Mo. That huge fish was caught in Bull Shoals Lake.
Back to Reynolds’ recent catch, he caught the big walleye while trying to catch blue catfish. The big ‘eye was caught with a bluegill as bait.
“I first thought I caught a carp, but when I got the fish to the boat I realized I had caught a walleye,” said Reynolds in a news release. “I was in shock that I caught a large walleye.
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After he got back to Osage Bluff Marine, Reynolds checked the Missouri Department of Conservation website (Link: https://mdc.mo.gov ) only to discover that he had landed something a little bigger than originally thought.
“I didn’t know I caught a state-record walleye until after I checked MDC’s website,” he explained in the MDC news release. “After I weighed my walleye and saw that I beat the record, I was super-excited. It’s just so hard to believe I now hold two state records.”
Jason Reynolds also owns the Missouri alternative methods state record spotted bass, a 2-pound, 11-ounce specimen he caught at Truman Reservoir back in 2016. Amazingly enough, it was only 100 yards or so from where he landed his newest state record in November! (Photos courtesy of Missouri Department of Conservation) Two state records? Yup, that’s where the lightning-striking-the-same-place twice remark comes from.
Because not only does Reynolds also hold the Show Me State’s current alternative-methods record for spotted bass – a 2-pound, 11-ounce spot that he caught on a jug line at Truman Reservoir on May 11, 2016 – but he caught both of his state record fish in nearly the same spot!
“Lighting does strike twice in the same place,” said Reynolds. “I caught the walleye about 100 yards away from where I caught the spotted bass. It’s really unbelievable!”
The way Reynolds’ luck is going, who knows what might still be ahead in his fish-catching future. In fact, is there a third state record ahead for him?
Who knows? Because the truth is that no one is really sure about how many times lighting can strike the same spot, especially when we’re talking about a red-hot fishing hole in Missouri.
Just ask Jason Reynolds. He’s the one wearing angling’s version of a lightning rod!
