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We have covered quite a few Missouri state fishing records over the past year, including a handful of catches back in 2019.
And who can forget Bryant Rackers, who recently claimed his fifth Missouri state record earlier this year when he caught a 2 pound, 6 ounce shorthead redhorse.
Today, the Missouri Department of Conservation announced that a new “alternative method” state record had been landed.
This time, it was Robert Audrain III of St. Louis who etched his name in the record books with a 4 ounce longear sunfish.
Yes, you read that correctly.
A Tiny Record is Still a Record
In Missouri, state fishing records can be recorded through two means: pole-and line, and alternative methods.
Alternative methods include:
- Baklines
- Limblines
- Throwlines
- Snaring
- Snagging
- Gigging
- Grabbing
- Juglines
- Atlatl
- Archery
Audrain’s catch came via throwline on a private pond, displacing the previous Missouri alternative methods record longear sunfish by one ounce. That fish was caught on Lick Log Creek in 1993.
Audrain was fishing from his father-in-law’s dock on a private pond with his 12-year-old son when he caught his record longear. He plans to have the fish mounted and, someday, hopes his son will surpass his newly minted record.
When talking with the Missouri Department of Conservation about the fish’s stature, he said, “it’s funny because most of my friends thought it was a joke. Because of the fish’s size, they really didn’t think that it was a record.”
For comparison, Missouri’s current pole-and-line state record longear sunfish (as of this posting) is an 11-ounce private pond fish caught by Brian Longo back in June 2007.
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