Another Georgia angler tops a state record

PORTAL – And the records just keep falling.

For the third time this year, anglers celebrated a new freshwater fish state record. Jamie Boyett of Portal landed the new Spotted Sunfish state record of 12 ounces (9 inches) on June 15 from the Ogeechee River. This catch beats the previous state record of 11 ounces, caught in 2019, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division.

“I was fishing for redbreast sunfish with my 8-year-old son Brannen on one of our regular locations on the Ogeechee, and when I caught this fish, I honestly wasn’t 100% sure what it was,” new record holder Boyett said. “A friend said it looked like a stumpknocker, which made me laugh because it was the biggest one I had ever seen.

“After we got home from fishing, I started cleaning our catch, and something made me decide to just look into confirming the species, and I sure am glad I did.”

Spotted sunfish (Lepomis punctatus) are members of the Sunfish family and are nicknamed “stumpknocker” because they orient strongly to stumps where they find food. They are dark olive or brown on top, with light green or olive sides, covered with small black spots and dusky orange fins. Most are less than a half-pound by weight. They are found in the Ocmulgee, Oconee, Altamaha, Ogeechee, Ochlockonee, Suwannee, St. Mary’s, Satilla and Savannah River basins. They prefer heavily vegetated, slow-moving lowland streams and warm shallow ponds. When angling for them, GADNR WRD recommends using worms, crickets, small spinners, flies and popping bugs.

“We aren’t quite halfway through the year, and we already have two new state records, and one tied record for freshwater fish so far in 2024,” Scott Robinson, chief of fisheries for the Wildlife Resources Division, said. “That sounds like some great motivation to get out there and go fishing.

“Don’t let the heat keep you away from the water, because there are outstanding angling opportunities all over our state, so let’s go fish Georgia.”

Georgia anglers support fisheries conservation through license purchases, which allow GADNR WRD to continue to do important research, maintain and operate public fishing areas and more. Anglers can purchase a Georgia license at www.gooutdoorsgeorgia.com.

For fishing tips, check out the weekly Fishing Blog post at https://georgiawildlife.blog/category/fishing/. Information about state-record fish, including an application and rules, can be found at https://georgiawildlife.com/fishing/recordprogram/rules or in the current Sport Fishing Regulations Guidebook.

Special Photo: Georgia DNR