Satilla River Redbreast Record Broken

Amanda Peebles, of Swainsboro, was fishing the Satilla River with her boyfriend near the Highway 301 landing when she landed a river-record catch. Amanda caught a redbreast that was certified and verified at 1-lb., 5.92-ozs., establishing a new mark for the Satilla.

As her boyfriend was making the typical shoreline cover casts, the couple hadn’t been fishing for long when Amanda hooked a cricket to her line and casted into the middle of the river. In no time, she snagged a redbreast sunfish.

Amanda’s boyfriend, an avid fisherman, knew it was a one-of-a-kind catch and immediately contacted WRD Fisheries. Amanda is not a regular when it comes to fishing, so this came as a surprise to her. A WRD biologist weighed the fish officially at 1-lb., 5.92-ozs. and measured it at almost 12 inches long.

Amanda Peebles with her record catch from the Satilla River.

The Satilla River is a flood plain river and has recently been under an 18-month flood level due to massive amounts of rain upstream and in the area. Productivity comes from flooding, and during these conditions fish grow and survive very well, this being the reason for several recent record-breaking catches. Hold-over fish, ones that have survived and slipped by anglers, grow even larger during the next flood.

“I expect this to continue well into the summer,” said WRD Fisheries Region Supervisor Bert Deener. “The river is still rising as we speak and is already back to flood conditions.”

This will provide even greater fishing for the river, and perhaps more chances at another record being broken.

GON will be doing a redbreast story in the July 2015 issue. Freelance writer Glen Solomon will be sharing techniques for catching those beautiful panfish.

Click here to see all of GON’s official Lake and River Records.