State Records: Walleye in Montana; Redear in Missouri

Montana has a new state fishing record for walleye, after an 18-pounder was boated on May 10.

The state Fish, Wildlife & Parks agency reported that Trevor Johnson of Helena caught the record on a jig at Holter Lake. The certified weight was 18.02 pounds, beating the previous record of 17.75 pounds, caught in 2007 at Tiber Reservoir.

Johnson's fish measured 32.325 inches and had a girth of 22 inches.

It was the seventh state record reported in Montana since August 2020.

More on Montana fishing records can be found here.

Bow Angler Beats Friend’s Record

A Missouri man beat the previous alternative-methods record held by his friend when he arrowed a 2-pound, 1-ounce redear sunfish at Table Rock Lake on April 28, two years to the day after the friend shot a then-record 1-12 redear. Alex Phillips was fishing with friend Josh Cole when he caught the record.

"It's quite a story," Phillips said in a Missouri Department of Conservation news release. "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!"

The catch was verified by MDC on a certified scale at Chesapeake Fish Hatchery near Mount Vernon. It is the fifth Missouri state-record fish so far on 2021.

For more information on state record fish can be found here.

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