BY ANDREW MACK
LAKE HAVASU, ARIZ. – The best part of fishing is you really never know what might bite on the other end of your line. That’s exactly what happened for Thomas Farchione from Waterford, Wisconsin. He was out fishing on Lake Havasu, drop-shotting with a nightcrawler. Thomas has used this method many times fishing at home in Wisconsin. All of a sudden something huge bit, and the fight was on. Thomas’s first thought was, “This is a good size bass!” He never expected to see what broke the surface mid-fight. A behemoth redear sunfish!
Thomas heard the stories of giant sunfish that are known to frequent these waters, but he had never caught one of this caliber. This fish made multiple runs, pulled some drag and finally was in the net. This Wisconsin native could not believe the sheer size of what he just caught. Putting it on his digital scale, it was very clear that he could have just caught a world record. So he did what most angler’s would have done in this situation and headed straight in to get weighed at Bass Tackle Master in Lake Havasu City. This is the same shop that weighed the current world record redear at 5 pounds, 11 ounces. John Galbraith, owner of the shop said, “Thomas came in the door and right away I knew just by the look on his face he caught something massive.”
Familiar with the process of weighing and recording record redear, Bass Master Tackle’s certified scale was ready. Once they set the fish on the scale John and Thomas both looked at each other and knew right away. Thomas has done it. This redear sunfish weighed 6.30 pounds certified, shattering the old record by a half pound! The fish 17 inches long with a 20-inch girth.
Once the paperwork is submitted and approved, this will be without a doubt the new all tackle world record redear sunfish.
