Jayce sets new family record…read on (Note: iPhone video as opposed to GoPro for this clip)

Today’s video documents the establishment of a new family record for the green sunfish species reeled in by my son, Jayce, on May 27, 2017. The catch weighed in at 13 ounces, came from a Henry County, IL pond and was caught on a waxworm hung from a bobber.

Perhaps your next question is, “How big was the old record?”

Well, in all honesty, I don’t really know that there was an old record despite reeling in hundreds of these misfits over the years. For many years we fished Lake Bracken just south of Galesburg, IL and while it featured an abundance of these feisty fish I don’t recall that we ever got one quite this big or bothered much in weighing these catches.

New record at 13 ounces (gravel aided weight deemed negligible)

You see, the green sunfish is an interesting sort of outcast.

They are very cooperative, aggressive fighters and feature a wide range of colorization due to hybridization with bluegill. For kids they are also easier to get a hold of than a bluegill thanks to a bigger handle (meaning a bigger mouth). However, every once in a while you run into one that has some pretty good teeth that will give you a little scrape reminiscent of what we call “bass thumb.”

A small jighead or hook tipped with a waxworm or piece of dew worm and hung from a bobber will get the job done as will moving Beetle spin type baits with or without a spinner. Most times you can find green sunfish in the shallows and they seem to particularly like hanging in the cover of a rocky shoreline waiting to pounce on a meal. A cast to such a spot on the Lake Bracken shoreline back in the day was about as close to a guarantee as you could get.

The record was not a fluke as Jayce hauled in another fine specimen two days later

Which takes me back to the fun of being a fishing kid as while green sunfish can have some negative effects on a body of water they sure are fun to catch on an ultralight rig. As much evidence as one would need in this video of a happy kid tied into a feisty fish that nearly jerks the pole away at one point. Fishing in its simplest form, just looking for whatever’s biting. And a little extra cause for celebration when it’s a “family world record.” Talk to you later. Troy