Josh Estes of Hurricane said December is a little late to fish Summersville Lake, but when the chance presented itself to wet a line back on December 1, nobody factored the late date into the equation.
“It was pretty and kind of warm,” Estes said as he worked in the DOH garage in Hurricane this week.
He and his buddy were having a fantastic day lifting smallmouth and walleye from the Nicholas County waters. That’s why Estes didn’t get too excited when he got the bite.
“I thought it was a walleye ’cause they hit just like them, and that’s what we mainly fish for up there,” he said. “But it was him.”
“Him” which Estes referenced was the heaviest yellow perch ever caught in the state of West Virginia.
“It was a big one!” said Estes who figured he was close to the state record the moment the fish hit the boat. “A couple of my buddies have come close already to catching it.”
The fish weighed 1.93 pounds establishing a new weight record for a the yellow perch. Estes’ fish stretched the tape measure to 14.5 inches, but fell short of the current length record of 15.44 inches also caught at Summersville. Estes’ record fish broke the old record for weight which stood for 27 years caught by Charles Mayle from Tygart Lake back in 1985.
“It was a pretty good fight,” he said. “They fight about like a smallmouth if it’s not too cold, but when it gets cold they just come to the top.”
Estes said the numbers and size of perch in Summersville Lake are increasing. Although they aren’t to the level where he’d be compelled to fish for them exclusively. The fish bit on a live chub minnow and was among several smallmouth, walleye, and perch boated on what turned out to be a fantastic day of fishing.
Click HERE to see all of West Virginia’s fish records.