SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Two West Virginia anglers caught record fish in different parts of the Mountain State on the same day.
One of those anglers, John Plott of Oak Hill, W.Va., has been down this road before. Plott caught a redear sunfish at Plum Orchard Lake and broke his own record for length. The fish Plott caught April 22nd stretched the tape measure to 12.44 inches. It broke the old record for length, which was another fish Plott caught at Plum Orchard less than a year ago.
Plott’s latest catch weighed 1.60 pounds, which fell shy of the 1.75 record for weight which he still holds for the 2024 catch. Plott caught the fish using a nightcrawler for bait.
Plott established the record with his fish from 2024 which was first recognized for record status by the DNR in a recent revamping of the trophy fish and citation programs in West Virginia.
That was also the case for the Redhorse sucker which was also on that list of new state records recognized in West Virginia. The inaugural record for the Redhorse was caught April 22nd by Jason Floyd from Bellville, W.Va. in Wood County.
Floyd was fishing with a homemade swim bait in the tailwaters of the Bellville Lock and Dam on the Ohio River when he hooked the big fish. Official measurements of the fish were 24.57-inch for length and 5.75-pounds for weight. Both of those became the new state records in both categories.
Floyd, in an interview for West Virginia Outdoors, noted he caught an even bigger Redhorse last fall, but was unable to get in touch with a biologist to measure the fish during the Labor Day weekend. The most recent catch was certified as the new record by West Virginia Division of Natural Resources Biologist Nate Taylor who came to the river to get the measurements on a weekend and the fish was released alive back into the Ohio River.