Father And Son Set Two Alapaha River Bream Records

Colt James with the Alapaha River record warmouth. It weighed 8.74 ounces.

It was a September to remember for father-and-son Craig and Colt James, of Waycross. In under 10 days, the pair of anglers managed to catch the GON Lake and River Record redbreast, spotted sunfish and warmouth while fishing the river.

“We made our first trip ever over there on the last day of August, and that’s when I caught the new river record redbreast. Colt caught a spotted sunfish that day that barely missed being a river record, and that told us all we needed to know about the quality of panfish in the river.

Craig made a second trip to the river the following week while Colt was in school, and though the redbreast weren’t really biting that well, other species of fish were.

“I started out bass fishing with a wacky-rigged worm and caught five or so pretty quick. One was right at 4 pounds and the others were solid river fish in the 13- to 15-inch size range,” said Craig.

Even though he was reluctant to put down his bass gear, Craig had a hunch the panfish might be turned on.

“I was hearing and seeing fish slap the top of the water along the banks what seemed like at least every minute or so. That made me want to give a topwater bug a try,” said Craig.

Craig began pitching a foam bream bug he makes known as a Swamp Spider and immediately caught several fish on topwater.

“The funny thing was out of every 10 fish I was catching, at least seven or eight were spotted sunfish, or as we call them down here, stumpknockers. I kept the biggest one I caught that day and took it to the Waycross Fisheries Office to be weighed,” said Craig.

Craig James with the Alapaha River spotted sunfish record. The panfish weighed 6.24 ounces.

That fish weighed in at 6.24 ounces, good enough to earn a spot in the GON Lake and River Records. And just when you think the story would be over, Craig’s son, Colt, had his sights set on a record of his own.

“Me and my dad went fishing on Sunday afternoon, and I was hoping I’d catch a record fish, too”, said Colt.

Colt and his dad worked their way upriver in their two-man kayak with no success before beginning to float back down.

“It had been raining, and me and dad couldn’t get them to bite anything, so I decided to tie on a jig. I was thinking if I hopped it on the bottom I could at least get a mudfish to bite,” said Colt.

About catching a couple of small bass on the jig, Colt made a cast near some cypress trees and slowly hopped the jig off the bottom. Feeling a distinct thump, Colt set the hook hard and fought what proved to be a sizable warmouth into the boat.

“Me and Dad knew that no one had set a warmouth record yet, so we checked the weight with our scales we keep in the kayak. He weighed over 8 ounces on them, so we felt like he’d be big enough for a benchmark record,” said Colt.

The pair of anglers took the fish to the Waycross Fisheries Office to be certified, and it was weighed in at 8.74 ounces, good enough to meet the 8-oz. minimum benchmark amount for the species.

“We had some great trips over to the Alapaha this month. For us to know very little about the river and to be catching so many good fish, it tells me there are plenty more big ones to be caught. We’re excited to have gotten our name in the record books, but honestly I’d be shocked if these records are standing this time next year. This river has plenty of fish, and some really good ones at that,” said Craig

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