Record Redear Sunfish

[Uncle Jesse]

Holy Crappie!!

No it's a shellcracker, a red ear, a big A** bream.

[ohiotuber]

WOW! For those of us who mostly target panfish, that is almost unbelievable.
Jim....Wouldn't THAT be fun on one of our 3wts?? We would need to pack some water skis!
Mike

[FishnDave]

Funny you should say that. Many years ago, my grandpa called me and told me he caught a 14 1/2" crappie. I asked him if he was going to get it stuffed. He just laughed and said "God no, we cut it up and ate it for supper". That's just what we did with my 12" bluegill, too!

12" Bluegill??? Wowza, that's a ginormous fish, Dave! Did you at least get a picture of that fish?

[Uncle Jesse]

WOW! For those of us who mostly target panfish, that is almost unbelievable.
Jim....Wouldn't THAT be fun on one of our 3wts?? We would need to pack some water skis! Mike

Mike, If you and the missus pack up and go on vacations during warm months there is a little resort,12,000 acres or so, just 70 miles or so south of Atlanta, Callaway Gardens. While the entire resort is great with beautiful flowers, hiking trails, PGA quality golf course, great restaurants and a butterfly house, there are a number of lakes. Some are quite expensive to fish in my estimate, but the largest lake can be fished from a 14 ft. jon boat with trolling motor and nice padded seats for a very reasonable fee. The average bluegill I have caught on the few times I have been there is around a pound, they advertise the possibility of shellcrackers up to 3 lbs. and largemouth over 10 lbs. I dropped a popper with a dropper by a log there one day and just got freight trained. I have no financial interest here, just a great way to spend the day.

[James Smith]

Mike,

Another option would be if you ever find yourself in the Atlanta area during the fishing season, let me know. I live on a 50 acre lake where 12-13 ionch bream are fairly common and you're welcome to come fish. I even have a Hobie Outback kayak you can use or a 14 jon boat if you want to fish in "style". Heck, I've got the fishing gear and flies as well. Just let me know.

Jim Smith

[bonefishwhisperer]

that is a monster! a stump knocker and by far the biggest I have ever seen...what a catch!!!

[ZugbugPete]

I read this when it was first posted and thought it was a joke - but it is real... holy cow, that thing would use my 2wt as a toothpick after eating me alive! Ok, maybe not THAt bad, but my goodness, I've never seen bream get that large in nature. I consider a palm-sized fish (bream now) a decent catch when in Maine and a little larger here in PA. But that size, good golly, makes me think there's a different world between where I live and where those sizes are found.

[lee s]

What a kewl thread!
Grand pics and fantastic mental pics provided by James and crew!
I admit to being spoiled rotten by access to many farm ponds due to driving a hay truck to dairies here locally. Some ponds produce jillions of -6" BG's and sub 12" LM's. However a few ponds seem balanced by 1 1/2#-6# LM's and corresponding 7"-11" BG's. The two factors seeming to most impact the quality here is the amount of water draw-down for irrigation and dairy useage and the amount of catch and kill allowed.
Either way, 11"-13" BG's and Redears are danged scarce around here and I would surely love to spend a couple days in the opposite end of a john boat with James!
.....lee s.