Huge Hybrid Bass Sets Missouri Record

A three-decades-old record for hybrid bass in Missouri was broken by more than a pound, but the angler said he wasn’t all that surprised by the catch.

“It was just a normal day out fishing,” Cesar Rodriguez said in a news release from the Missouri Department of Conservation. “Last year I caught a 24-pound hybrid in Oklahoma, but I couldn’t find a game warden to confirm it. So, this catch didn’t come as a surprise that it was a record-breaker.”

That said, Rodriguez caught a massive 21-pound, 11-ounce hybrid at Lake of the Ozarks on May 19. The previous record, caught in 1986, also at Lake of the Ozarks, weighed 20-8. 

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The fish’s weight was verified on a certified scale at MDC’s Roaring River Hatchery in Cassville.

The fish was the sixth reported state record in 2019, according to the MDC. Missouri state-record fish are recognized in two categories: pole-and-line and alternative methods. Alternative methods include bowfishing, trotline, snagging, throwlines, limb lines, bank lines, jug lines, spearfishing, snaring, gigging, grabbing and atlatl.

Brown Trout: Paul Crews (pole-and-line, 34-10)

Yellow Perch: Isaac Bohm (trotline, 10 ounces)

Black Buffalo: Joshua Lee (bowfishing, 76-0)

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Redear Sunfish: Josh Cole (bowfishing, 1-12)

Gizzard Shad: Brian Rehmeier (snagging, 2-10)

For more information on state-record fish, visit the MDC website at https://short.mdc.mo.gov/Zxr.