Giant Sunfish that Fought Like a Smallmouth Bass Is a New Record

West-central Arizona’s sprawling Lake Havasu is a well-liked spot for boaters. The deep and clear, 19,000-acre reservoir on the Colorado River presents good fishing, and heavy boat site visitors is one thing veteran anglers have realized to take care of.

“I used to be fishing with my fiancé Sarah Harris about mid-day, and we’d moved effectively out from shore as a result of there have been loads of folks making an attempt for bedding panfish in shallower water,” Daniels tells Out of doors Life. “It was about noon, and I figured the larger fish had moved out, so we eased about 100 yards off the financial institution.”

They had been on the lookout for fish alongside construction and close to drop-offs with their Lowrance forward-facing-sonar, and Daniels lastly observed a big fish near a creek mouth. It was holding on a flat close to a sunken tree in 15 ft of water.

“It was an enormous sonar mark in deep water that I figured was a smallmouth bass,” explains the 42-year-old Phoenix resident. “I forged a micro jig with a small piece of earthworm connected to it with ultralight sort out. I let it sink to the underside the place the fish was holding, however nothing occurred … [then] I twitched the 1/32-ounce chartreuse-colored Berkley ‘Atomic Tube’ lure as soon as, and the fish took it.”

Daniels says the fish fought exhausting and deep, and he nonetheless thought it was a great smallie at first. However 4 minutes later, utilizing 6-pound check, and a protracted 7-foot-9-inch rod, he introduced the fish to the floor the place he noticed it wasn’t a bass, however a large sunfish.

“I knew it was an enormous redear, so performed it fastidiously till Sarah netted it and introduced it into our boat,” says Daniels, the proprietor of Pro Bass Adventures, a fishing operation primarily based on Mexico’s El Salto and Baccarac Lakes.

Daniels retains licensed scales in his boat, together with a size measuring board. He has dozens of world and state information to his credit score, so he’s all the time ready when a possible report is caught.

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“After we put the sunfish on the boat deck, we knew it was a particular fish,” Daniels says. “We instantly put it in our stay effectively, then acquired out the measuring board and made pictures of the fish.”

The redear sunfish measured 16 inches lengthy with an 18-inch girth. After rigging up their licensed scale and transferring to shore, Daniels shortly weighed the sunfish on the financial institution the place it tallied 4 kilos, 12 ounces.

“I needed to launch it, however I additionally needed a duplicate mount of the fish,” Daniels says. “I put the fish in our boat stay effectively once more, and referred to as my taxidermist to see if he had a mould of a sunfish of the identical dimensions. He stated he had a barely smaller one, and I stated, ‘Nice, that’s shut sufficient.’”

Daniels launched the trophy redear, and he later submitted paperwork to the Arizona Game and Fish Department for a catch-and-release report. His report was authorized by AZGFD fisheries employees on June 19.

“Havasu has given up some enormous panfish,” Daniels says. “By releasing her, perhaps I can catch her once more a 12 months or two from now and he or she’ll be [big enough] to set one other report.”