Atkinson County angler Wesley Daniels reeled in a record-tying palm-sized panfish Tuesday while fishing for catfish. Weighing in at 12 ounces and measuring 8 ½ inches long, the spotted sunfish Daniels pulled from the Suwannee River matched the current Georgia state record set by Jamie Boyette on the Ogeechee River in June 2024.
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources confirmed the tie Thursday, making Daniels co-holder of the top spot for the species, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
“I was fishing for catfish, so the unusual thing was that he was caught on a piece of shrimp, and I thought it was a big catfish at first,” Daniels told the DNR. “When I pulled him into the boat, me and my friend just looked at each other, because we had never seen a stumpknocker that big!”
Many local anglers call spotted sunfish “stumpknockers” because they tend to prefer hanging out around underwater structure where they forage for insects and other invertebrates.
They can be feisty fighters despite their modest size and typically bite on small spinners, poppers, or flies, or live bait like worms and crickets. These warmwater natives are part of the sunfish family and are common throughout the Southeastern United States. They’re also identified by the distinct black spots that run along their sides.
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“We are excited to have our first freshwater fish state record for 2025,” DNR wildlife resources division chief of fisheries Scott Robinson said. “And I don’t know about you, but that certainly fires me up to get out and get on the water,”
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