“I first thought I caught a carp, but when I got the fish in the boat I realized I had caught a walleye,” Reynolds said. “I was in shock that I caught a large walleye.”
The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) reports Jason Reynolds of Warsaw became the most recent state-record-fish breaker in Missouri when he caught a walleye on a jug line on Truman Lake in Benton County. The new “alternative method” record fish caught by Reynolds on Nov. 5, weighed 6 pounds, 14 ounces. Reynolds’ recent catch broke the previous state record by 1 pound, 1 ounce.
Reynolds was using bluegill for bait and trying to catch blue catfish when he caught the new state-record walleye.
Reynolds said he didn’t know the walleye was a state record until he checked MDC’s website when he got back to Osage Bluff Marine.
“I didn’t know I caught a state-record walleye until after I checked MDC’s website,” he said. “After I weighed my walleye and saw that I beat the record, I was super excited. It’s just so hard to believe I now hold two state records.”
Reynolds also currently holds the spotted bass alternative method state record for a fish taken by jug line.
“Lighting does strike twice in the same place,” he said. “I caught the walleye about hundred yards away from where I caught the spotted bass. It’s really unbelievable!”
MDC staff verified the walleye’s weight on a certified scale at Lost Valley Hatchery in Warsaw. This is the seventh state-record fish of 2018.
Missouri state-record fish are recognized in two categories: pole-and-line and alternative methods. Alternative methods include: throwlines, trotlines, limb lines, bank lines, jug lines, spearfishing, snagging, snaring, gigging, grabbing, archery, and atlatl. For more information on state-record fish, visit the MDC website at http://on.mo.gov/2efq1vl.