World Record caught in MN

[dwag70]

here is a paste of the story

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A 19-year-old from Freeport has made a big catch on the Sauk River - and he's getting the shorthead redhorse checked out to see if it broke the world record.

Robin Schmitz was fishing below the Sauk River dam in Melrose on Friday when he hooked a 12-pound, 11½-ounce shorthead redhorse. The fish, which is a member of the sucker family, measured 28½ inches long with an 18½-inch girth.

"I knew it was big," he said. "I didn't know it was that big."

The current world record belongs to Bruce Johnstone, who caught an 8-pound, 12-ounce shorthead redhorse on the North River in Ontario in 1988.

The Schmitzes were targeting the sucker fish on Friday. Robin Schmitz finished his work on the family dairy and hog operation in Stearns County, then he and his uncle set out for Melrose.

The family often fishes for the suckers and smokes them. Once smoked, Schmitz said, a shorthead redhorse tastes "not bad."

He used a nightcrawler and fished for about two hours. Rigged with 20-pound-test line and a jig, Schmitz fought the fish about five minutes before beaching it.

Another two hours passed before Schmitz weighed his prize.

Jenifer Matthees of the DNR in St. Paul said Monday she is awaiting information from Schmitz and Dean Beck, the fisheries supervisor in Glenwood, before beginning the record verification process.

The current record mark for Minnesota shorthead redhorses was caught by Robert Litke and weighed 7 pounds, 15 ounces. Litke's record-setter was hauled from the Rum River just north of the Twin Cities in 1983.

A spokeswoman for the International Game Fish Association in Florida, a registry of world-record fish, said Monday that, if verified, Schmitz's shorthead redhorse would set a new world record.

[hogsucker]

That would be one GIGANTIC shorthead redhorse. I have caught thousands of them over the years, and am fully able to distinguish them from its' close cousins the River and Greater redhorse, species that reach much larger size and also have red tails. Never have I seen a shorthead over 19 inches. I hope the MN DNR guy who ID'd it did "bone up" on his redhorse ID key, so the IGFA doesn't laugh at us......I'd also like to see a clear closeup of the lips nad caudal peduncal region myself to see for sure if it's a gargantuan Shorthead. ~hogsucker

[dwag70]

The only pic I have seen is on the channel 5 news site and it is not a good pic it looks frozen

Go to Channel 5

and click on news

[BassManDuluth]

Please keep us updated....col story.

[AWH]

Nothing like crushing the existing record!

[troutchaser]

Great!! Now we are going to have a mad rush of shorthead sucker fishermen to the state!!!

[DTro]

here are some pics http://www.startribune.com/stories/767/5419614.html

not sure if it's a shorthead or not

I think it's hilarious that he won't reveal the color of the jig

[Chris Haley]

He needs time to see if any tackle companies offer a cash reward for catching a record!! Before he says what it was caught on.

[sunnyj]

After looking at the pics, I think I'll stick to eating crappies and walleyes

[Cooter]

Must be the first world record fish to come from MN Is kind of fitting its from the sucker family Sorry, I couldn't resist.

[Deitz Dittrich]

har har.. cooter, I just took you off my x-mas list...

[ghotierman]

Minnesota's state record carp was also once the world record...but several larger carp have been caught around the world recently.

State record: 55 pounds, 5 ounces, Clearwater Lake, 1952

World record: 82 pounds, 3 ounces, Romania, 1998

There are some old state records that could fall if you're not shy about suckers, rockbass, bullheads and other less glamorous fish. Hey, a record is a record, right? I'll never forget the look on the guys face when he talked about the huge rockbass he caught on Lake Ida...he'd even weighed it before throwing it back....I opened the regulations and showed him the state records charts! He was noticeably discouraged...until I reminded him..."hey, but it was a rockbass!"....felt better about missing a record on an unglamorous species.

this kid has a good start on the MN master angler program!

[so haaad]

Ghoiterman,

You are in record-breaking heaven living in Alex. From what I remember, two of the three bullhead records plus the dogfish record all come from Douglas County!

[hanson]

Speaking of the state record dogfish...

It was close to going down this spring. A gentleman fishing next to me on Medicine Lake from shore landed a huge one. I taped it off at 31 1/2" and it was 1-2 ounces shy of the record on my digital Rapala scale.

I guess I would have been proud to have my name in the books next to dogfish if that would have been my fish.

My great uncle held the state record pumpkinseed record for a number of years back in the 70s.

[Cooter]

Yeh, us cheeseheads were fortunate enough a year or two ago to become the world record holders of the prestigious buffalo carp. Other than muskies, I don't know if WI has any other world records or not. Except for most bars per capita

[BassManDuluth]

I know the feeling. I caught an 8 lb 8 oz largemouth (In my pic) 4-5 oz short of the state record. Go Beetle Spin!