Nixa angler's 'world record' redhorse turns out to be different kind of fish

Wes Johnson Springfield News-Leader

Published 6:45 PM EDT Oct 12, 2018

In hindsight, something wasn't quite right about the potential world record fish a Nixa fly fisherman caught in the James River last month.

A closer look at the grinder teeth in the fish's gills revealed Jay Heselton's black redhorse sucker fish wasn't a black redhorse at all.

Heselton's 5-pound, 15-ounce fish was poised to smash Missouri's state record for a black redhorse (1 pound, 8 ounces) and also wallop the current world record black redhorse (2 pounds, 4 ounces) caught on pole and line in Pennsylvania in 1998.

Those records remain safe.

"We want to be fair to him and to our current record holders, so that's why we work to ensure the identity of a potentially record fish," said Andrew Branson, fisheries program specialist with the Missouri Department of Conservation. "There are several different types of suckers in Missouri, and some can look real similar. There can even be some hybrids. Some you have to get down to real fine details to confirm what it is."

As Heselton's fish was moving through MDC's record confirmation process, something about the look of its scales along the back raised some questions. MDC's fish experts decided to look at the fish's "pharyngeal" teeth in its gills.

"The fish use these teeth for grinding, and the teeth are shaped a little differently depending on the kind of fish," Branson said.

The teeth showed Heselton's fish was a river redhorse, not a black redhorse. The current Missouri record river redhorse record was caught in January by Dixon angler Maverick Yoakum, 11. It weighed 10 pounds, 3 ounces and not only set the Missouri record but also was confirmed as a world record river redhorse through the International Game Fish Association.

"Missouri is definitely the state for sucker fishing," Branson quipped.

Branson said he has been trying to reach Heselton to let him know about the new fish identification, so far without luck. The News-Leader also was unable to reach Heselton.

Identifying a potentially record fish might seem easy, but Branson said that's not always the case. He said MDC is currently studying a 15-pound gar fish that was taken by a Missouri bow fisherman that could potentially be a world record.

"We don't know if it's a shortnose gar or a longnose gar with a broken snout or a misshapen snout," Branson said. "We've taken a fin clip sample to do some genetic tests on it to confirm which fish it is. We're still awaiting the results."

More:

Nixa angler likely smashes state, world record for black redhorse "sucker" fish
It really is a big one: 11-year-old Missouri boy catches apparent world record fish
Field-testing a prismatic midge fly

Let's block ads! (Why?)