A record-breaking sunfish was caught at Missouri lake — but not in the traditional way
Using a method that’s more like hunting than fishing, a Missouri man caught a record-breaking fish earlier this month.
That redear sunfish weighed 2 pounds, 2 ounces — beating out the previous record fish by 1 ounce, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation.
Andrew Hunt, of Hollister, is the new state record holder for redear sunfish caught using an alternative method, wildlife officials said. He snagged the sunfish on June 4 while bowfishing at Lake Taneycomo in southwest Missouri.
“It’s pretty crazy because this was my first time bowfishing,” Hunt told the state department. “It was my buddy’s 21st birthday and we decided to go bowfishing. We had a guide take us out on Table Rock Lake. We shot a few carp, but later went out to Taneycomo.”
While at Lake Taneycomo, he says he was near the front of the boat when he spotted what he thought was a big shad.
“I reeled it in and said, ‘Well, that’s not a shad,” Hunt said. “The guide saw it and said, ‘I think you just got a record!’”
His guide was right.
Missouri Department of Conservation officials say they verified the weight with a certified scale at Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery in Branson.
Now Hunt plans to have his record-breaking sunfish mounted.
In Missouri, it is legal to bowfish non-game fish, including sunfish, gar and carp.
“Bowfishing offers an exciting way to pursue these fish that typically draw little interest with traditional methods,” according to state wildlife officials. “Traditional fishing uses hooks, and fish aren’t typically seen during the angler’s pursuit of them. Bowfishing is quite different in that fish are first spotted and then shot at with a bow or crossbow.”
This can be more challenging because water bends light waves, and a fish might not be exactly where it appears.
“The angler must compensate for this refraction, making the shot more difficult,” officials said. “The tendency is to shoot over the fish, so learning how to adjust the shot at a moment’s notice on a moving target can prove quite tricky.”
This story was originally published June 22, 2022 at 11:50 AM with the headline "A record-breaking sunfish was caught at Missouri lake — but not in the traditional way."