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What is the world record redear sunfish?

Author

Noah Mitchell

Published Jan 14, 2026

Congratulations to Thomas Farchione for this enormous 2.83-kilogram (6-pound, 4-ounce) redear sunfish that he caught on May 4, 2021, while fishing Lake Havasu, Arizona, US. Thomas was using a nighcrawler for bait and needed only a few minutes to land the impressive new IGFA World Record.

What is the largest redear sunfish ever caught?

A world record

Measuring 17 inches long with a 20-inch girth, the fish eclipses the former world record of 5.78 pounds caught in 2014 by Hector Brito. Brito's fish topped Robert Lawler's 2011 world record of 5.55 pounds. Like Brito's whopper, the newest world record bit a drop-shot-rigged night crawler.

What is the largest freshwater sunfish?

Redbreast Sunfish: 1 pound, 12 ounces

Alvin Buchanan is the redbreast sunfish all-tackle record holder, with a 1-pound, 12-ounce fish caught May 29, 1984 in Florida's Suwannee River. The fish was 10.75 inches long with a girth of 14 inches.

What is the best bait for redear sunfish?

Rister said meal worms and crickets are the preferred live baits for redear sunfish, while red worms and crickets are tops for bluegills. The recommended strategy for both species is suspending the bait under a float.

What is the largest bluegill ever caught?

The world record bluegill was caught in 1950 in Ketona Lake, Alabama with a cane pole and common worms. This world record fish measured 15″ long and weighed 4 pounds and 12 oz.

29 related questions found

What is the world record shellcracker?

State fisheries biologists believe shellcrackers grow to such phenomenal size there because of the water's purity and the large supply of snails, the main item of a shellcracker's diet. The existing world-record shellcracker, which weighed 4 pounds and 10 ounces, was caught in the same pond in May 1985.

Where can I find big bluegill?

Think Deep

On big water fisheries, some of the largest bluegill and sunfish reside in deep water for all but the spawning period. These trophy fish find sanctuary in the depths. Here they are safe from the parade of panfish anglers tossing worms into the shallows for pint-size fish.

Where can I find redear sunfish?

Begin targeting shellcrackers around March or April by sending red worms to the bottom. That's where you'll typically find redear, as they predominantly forage for food along the bottom. Still waters, such as lakes and reservoirs, with good water clarity and some vegetation are typically the best locations.

Where can I get a shellcracker?

Shellcrackers often congregate around stumps, roots, logs, standing timber and green aquatic vegetation such as water lilies, coontail and elodea. They prefer deeper water than most other sunfish and commonly are found at depths of 25 to 35 feet.

Does redear spawn before bluegill?

Redear will typically spawn a month earlier than bluegill. In most of the southeast this will occur during March and April. Unlike bluegills, that spawn every month from May through September, redear typically have only one major spawn which occurs during the early spring.

What's the biggest crappie ever caught?

A certified scale at a local supermarket confirmed the 4.33-pound weight, which should solidify it as a record. The crappie measured 17.71 inches. For comparison, the all-tackle world record for a black crappie is 5 pounds, 7 ounces caught in May 2018 at Richeiseon Pond in Tennessee.

What is the world record white crappie?

All-Tackle World Record Crappie (White Crappie)

This massive 21-inch long, 5-pound, 3-ounce white crappie has been the IGFA all-tackle world record for the species for over half a century. It was caught in the Yocona River below Enad Dam. Bright used an Action Rod and a Denison-Johnson reel.

What is the world's largest crappie?

It's official, Lionel Ferguson's 5-pound, 7-ounce black crappie is the new IGFA All-Tackle world record! Caught on May 15, 2018 in Richeison Pond, in Loudon County.

What is the world record muskie?

For muskies, the world records for length and weight are held by two different fish. The maximum documented length is 72.04 inches (183 cm), and the heaviest documented weight is 70.10 pounds (31.8 kg), according to FishBase.

What is the world record for carp?

The Bowfishing Assn. of America lists as the current record a 104-pound, 2.4-ounce bighead carp, landed last year in West Virginia. For the sake of comparison, the International Game Fish Assn. lists as the all-tackle world record a 90-pound bighead catfish caught at Guntersville Lake in Tennessee in 2005.

What is a Georgia giant bluegill?

The discus-shaped fish, known as the Georgia Giant, is the product of hybridizing work by Ken Holyoak of Ken's Hatchery and Fish Farm in Alapaha, Ga. Advertisement. Known as a 'bream' (pronounced 'brim') south of the Mason-Dixon Line, the monster bluegill was discovered when Kenneth Carver of Douglas, Ga.

How big do shellcrackers get?

Shellcracker grow quickly and reach larger sizes than many other sunfish species. Adults typically are 7-10 inches in length, with large specimens reaching up to 12 inches in length and 2lbs in weight. Many lakes and ponds throughout the United States stock Shellcracker as a sportfish, with fish reaching up to 4 lbs.

Are shellcrackers good eating?

Redear sunfish are a fish of the southeast. They often feed heavily on snails, thus the nickname shellcracker. However, they also are known by Georgia bream, cherry gill, chinquapin, improved bream, rouge ear sunfish, and sun perch.

What is the difference between bluegill and redear?

Redear sunfish have a more gold and green coloration with faint vertical bars, while bluegills have more yellow or orange coloration. The main difference between the two is their operculum colors. The bluegill features a deep blue or black color while the redear sunfish has red or orange tips near its head.

How big do redear sunfish get?

The adult fish are between 20 and 24 cm (7.9 and 9.4 in) in length. Max length is 43.2 cm (17.0 in), compared to a maximum of about 40 cm (16 in) for the bluegill. Lepomis microlophus averages at a size of about 0.45 kg (0.99 lb), also larger than the average bluegill.

Where can I fish for redear?

The species is usually found near the bottom in warm water with little current and abundant aquatic vegetation. They are typically found on sandy or shell-covered areas of ponds and lakes, and are often located near grasses. Redear spend a great deal of time offshore in open water, particularly in the winter.

What is the best bait for big bluegill?

The most common baits are worms and night crawlers because they are readily available and bluegill love them. The key is to use only a piece of a worm—just enough to cover the hook. Other productive baits include crickets, grasshoppers, red wrigglers and meal worms. Artificial lures also work well for bluegill.

How do you target a large bluegill?

Larger bluegills often look for a larger meal to fill their appetite. Small crankbaits and vertical jigging minnow baits can help you target some of the largest 'gills in the school. Larger baits often will intimidate smaller fish and keep most of them off the hook. First, locate the fish.

What's the best way to catch big bluegill?

The plastics come in a variety of shapes that imitate bluegill munchies like insects, worms and minnows. Use them on light 1/32- to 1/64-ounce jigs or smaller, or on ice-fishing teardrops. Just about any body of water can have bull bluegills, but it takes a special body of water to produce numbers of big 'gills.