Alapaha River Redbreast Record Caught On Video

On Nov. 5, Craig James, of Waycross, managed to raise the redbreast bar yet again on the Alapaha River, breaking his own previously set record in the process. Craig, who’s a regular freelance contributor to GON, was fishing with his 11-year-old son, Colt, when he hooked into the new record fish.

“We haven’t been able to fish the Alapaha since Hurricane Helene, so we didn’t really know what to expect. My good buddy, Josh Forsythe, had made a trip to that stretch of river a couple days earlier, and him and his son had done pretty good, so that gave us some confidence that we might get on a decent bite,” said Craig.

Craig and Colt arrived at the river around 8 o’clock, roughly an hour and a half after first light. The pair of anglers quickly launched their two man Crescent Crew Kayak and headed down river.

“We were running a little behind getting to the river… it was a spur of the moment trip that I had managed to talk Colt’s mama into the night before as it was supposed to be a school day. It took some begging on both our parts, but we managed to talk her into him playing hooky, being as he has been making some really good grades in school this year,” said Craig.

The pair began to beat the banks with topwater bugs, and it didn’t take long for the anglers to start putting some fish in the kayak, with them catching their first couple still in sight of the bridge.

“That’s one thing we really like about the Alapaha, you don’t have to make a long run to get into the action. There are plenty of fish in the river and finding them isn’t hard,” Craig added.

The anglers spend the next couple of hours moseying downriver, catching a mixed bag of redbreast, stumpknockers, bass and bluegill in the process. Though the action wasn’t as fast paced as what it had been on previous trips from the summer, the anglers were pleased with how the morning was playing out.

“This time of year if you like fishing bugs for panfish, you’re literally on borrowed time. Once that water temperature dips below 65 degrees or so, it’s all but over for the year. With the water running about 67 degrees that morning, we were pretty happy with the results,” said Craig.

Around 10:15, Craig fired a cast to a pocket of slack water, and gave his Swamp Spider a couple of quick twitches. As soon as the floating foam bug paused, a big fish exploded on it.

“Man, he just murdered it! I knew right then he was a good fish, but honestly I didn’t know he was that big. I played him up next to the boat and Colt managed to get the net up under him. Once we got him in the kayak is when I realized just how big he was,” said Craig.

The anglers used digital scales to get a quick weight of 12.3 ounces on the fish. Confident the fish would best his current Alapaha River record, Craig put the fish on ice, and the pair of anglers fished another hour or so, ending their morning with a tally of roughly 25 fish in all.

Craig took the fish to the WRD Waycross Fisheries Office to be certified later that afternoon where it was officially weighed at 11.6 ounces, and measured 10.25 inches in length. The fish beat his previous record by more than an ounce. Though happy with the record, Craig had this to say about the catch.

“I’m excited to get another big one in the GON Lake and River Records, but I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, there are some big redbreasts in this river, and it won’t be long before someone brings a sure enough big Alapaha River rooster to the scales. It’ll be exciting to see the caliber of fish that gets weighed in next.”

Craig James with the new Alapaha River record redbreast.

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.

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