3-lb., 7-oz. Georgia Bluegill!

“Oh, I sure wish I could have caught that fish on my rod and feel,” said Don Fuller, of Kathleen, as he learned that his 3-lb., 7-oz. bluegill would have been a new state record had he not caught it in his hands.

This fish story began on Saturday, April 18, 1992 when Don and his brother began to partially drain a small, 1/2-acre pond on family property near Luthersville in Meriwether County. They were lowering the pond to clean out the brush and debris around the bank when they damaged the drain pipe and the lake completely emptied to just a few inches of water.

Don Fuller with a 3-lb., 7-oz. bluegill he scooped up from a Meriwether County pond.

The pond had been stocked with 1,000 catfish earlier and the brothers expected to harvest some frying fillets, but what they found instead was several fish baskets on the bottom, indicating that poachers had been at work. Don took a large net and worked what was left of the water and only turned up one catfish. Don then spotted what he first thought was a largemouth bass laying partially on its side in the shallow water. Reaching down and grabbing the fish with both hands, he flipped it up on his stomach and folded his shirt over to form a sack. Don carried the fish to his car and realized it was a nice bluegill, but he figured it only weighed about 2 pounds.

When the fish was finally weighed on certified scales in front of two witnesses, to his surprise it weighed 3-lbs., 7-ozs. The current state record bluegill weighs 3-lbs., 5-ozs.

Despite the fact that his fish isn’t a new state record, he still has an incredible fish and a great story to tell. He plans to have the fish mounted.