Alapaha River Redbreast Record Broken Again

Jacob Crews raised the bar for Alapaha River redbreast with this 10-oz. fish caught Aug. 24.

On Aug. 24, Jacob Crews decided to make a trip to the Alapaha River after finishing his morning shift at the CSX Rice Yard in Waycross.

“I had made a trip over there a week or so before, and that was actually my first time fishing the river. I fished out of my kayak and caught 20 or so good fish, so I was pretty excited to get back over there for a second time,” said Jacob.

Jacob put his kayak in the water around 4:15 and began making casts, while still in sight of the boat ramp. Within the first 10 minutes, Jacob managed to catch his first fish.

“I was throwing a Swamp Spider, a topwater that’s made locally in south Georgia by GA BOY LURES. It’s my favorite way to target big redbreast because you get to see them come up and hammer it,” said Jacob.

Jacob continued working his way upriver over the next couple of hours, catching several more fish in the process.

“I came to a really good-looking spot where there was a laid-down tree next to some rocks on the bank. I slung my spider in there, gave it a couple twitches, and that’s when he smoked it,” said Jacob.

Jacob instantly set the hook hard, snapping his line in the process, and that’s when chaos erupted.

“I was trying to get to my line as hard as I could. I could see a couple feet of it on top of the water, but it was going down fast. Just before it disappeared I grabbed it, and then the fight was on again.”

Round Two of the fight leaned in Jacob’s favor, and he was able to wrestle the big rooster redbreast in the kayak after a brief but tense struggle.

“As soon as I got him out of the water and took a good look at him, I was pretty sure it would beat the current record,” said Jacob.

Jacob checked the weight on his Bubba Scales and searched the GON Lake and River Records online to confirm his assumption. After realizing he had in fact caught a record fish, he fished a little while longer, catching several more fish before leaving the river around 7:30 or so.

Jacob kept the fish iced down the remainder of the weekend, and then took it to be certified at the Waycross Fisheries Office the Monday after getting off work. The fish weighed in at 10 ounces, beating the previous record of 9.28 ounces that was set earlier this summer.

When asked if he thought if there were more record caliber fish in the river, Jacob had this to say.

“There’s some really big fish in the Alapaha. I’ve only had a chance to fish it twice now, and both times I’ve caught several fish right at this same size. It’s only a matter of time before someone is gonna catch a real monster in there.”

To see some of Jacob’s action on the river, check out his new YouTube channel.