The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife and Conservation announced that teenage angler Cord Smith of Roger Mills County caught the new Oklahoma state record, eclipsing the old record that was more than 50 years old, while fishing curl-tail grubs along a small pond near Smith’s home.
Smith’s redear weighed 2 pounds, 5.6 ounces and was 13 1/2 inches long and 12 3/4 inches around! The previous mark was 2 pounds, 1 1/4 ounces caught back in 1973. The were fishing with old Zebco combos and working curly tail grubs and small jigheads along the banks of the pound hoping to catch some bluegill, crappie or bass when the big redear surprised them.
If you’re looking to catch big redears, brush up on your shellcracker knowledge with our redear sunfish species guide.
