Alapaha River Redbreast Record Broken, Second Time In A Week

For the second time in a week, the Alapaha River redbreast record has been broken. On Aug. 31, Craig James, along with his son Colt, were fishing the river when they managed to connect with a big panfish that was able to edge out the newly set record.

“I had never fished the river before, and the only reason we made a trip over there was because my good friend Jacob Crews, who actually set the record a week before, had told me just how good the fishing was,” said Craig.

Taking Jacob’s advice, the pair of anglers arrived at the river just as daylight was breaking and launched their two-man Crescent Crew kayak.

“We started fishing right at the bridge and caught our first good redbreast within a couple of minutes with the truck still in sight,” said Craig.

Over the next couple of hours the pair of anglers continued to float and fish downriver, getting a bite on nearly every cast.

“We were fishing a popping bug known as a Swamp Spider that we produce through my company, GA Boy Lures. On just about every throw, we were having small fish slap at it that couldn’t quite get the hook, but every 10 or 15 casts we were picking up a good fish,” Craig added.

Around 9:30, the anglers approached a deep bend in the river, suspecting that big fish might be holding beneath the black tannic water. Craig fired a cast, and a few seconds later a fish erupted on the topwater bug.

“Right when he hit it, I knew it was a better fish because he was really showing out on my light action rod. After a few seconds, I was able to get him up in the boat and that’s when I knew he might be big enough to make the GON records. Before I could really look at him though, Colt hooked up with a big rooster, too. Once he got his in the boat, it was hard to tell whose was bigger, so we put them both on the scales. Colt’s weighed in at 10 ounces even, and mine was showing 10.5 ounces,” said Craig.

Craig immediately put his fish on ice to try and keep it from losing any weight, and the pair of anglers began to fish their way back upriver to the boat ramp, catching several more nice fish in the process, including a spotted sunfish (stumpknocker) that was caught by Colt that the anglers felt would be really close to being a river record.

“We took out about 10:45 or so, loaded up and headed to the Waresboro Post Office that is near my home to put the fish on certified scales. We knew that both of the fish we had were gonna be real close one way or the other,” said Craig.

Craig’s fish was weighed in first, pushing the scales down to 10.1 ounces, barely enough to edge out the previous record of 10 ounces set a week before by Jacob Crews. Colt’s big stumpknocker was weighed next, coming in at 4.5 ounces even, barely missing the current record of 4.54 ounces that was set earlier this summer.

“We had an awesome time fishing the river and can’t wait to go back soon. There’s no doubt in my mind that there’s plenty of fish in the Alapaha that will easily break this record in the near future. It really is a diamond in the rough when it comes to south Georgia rivers,” said Craig.

To view Craig and Colts trip, be sure to check out GA BOY OUTDOORS on YouTube.

GON’s Official Alapaha River Record Fish

Catch A Lake or River Record? Requirements For Record Fish

• Fish must be caught legally by rod and reel in a manner consistent with WRD fish regulations.

• Catch must be weighed on accurate Georgia DOA certified scales with at least two witnesses present.

• Witnesses to the weighing must be at least 18 years old, and they must not be members of the angler’s immediate family nor have a close personal relationship with the angler.

• Catch must be positively identified by qualified DNR personnel. GON can correspond with DNR when high-quality, multiple photos are taken of the fish and emailed to GON. All record submissions and photos must be sent to [email protected].

GON’s records are compiled and maintained by GON, to be awarded at GON’s discretion. Additional steps may be required for record consideration.

View Benchmarks For GON Lake & River Records