Talk about a frying pan-sized panfish! According to the Arizona Game and Fish Department, a pending world-record redear sunfish was hauled out of Lake Havasu, weighing in at a whopping 5.78 pounds, and breaking the previous record of 5.55 pounds.
Hector Brito targeted the chalk cliffs area of the lake and expected to see a catfish on the end of his line when his dropshot rig fixed with a No. 8 Aberdeen hook and baited with a plump nightcrawler was inhaled. Redear sunfish, aka shellcrackers, in Lake Havasu grow to enormous proportions as they feed on the invasive quagga mussel. Most experts and local anglers believe that redears over the 6-pound mark exist in the lake.
Photo: AZGFD