Florida has a new length record for one of the state’s most popular game fish. Joey Ingold caught the 36.25-inch redfish on February 28 while casting a paddle tail into the wind near Panama City. According to a press release from the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), Ingold was en route to a new fishing spot and had just tossed out an exploratory cast when the big redfish engulfed his lure.
“I hadn’t gotten a single hit, so I cast my paddle tail and let it sink to the bottom while I grabbed a new lure to tie on,” Ingold said. “Once I got my new lure ready, I started to reel in my paddle tail to switch it out. About five seconds after I started to reel it back in, the redfish hit.”
The fish dragged Ingold’s kayak around for a bit before he managed to haul it aboard, the FWC press release states. When he first set the hook, he thought his lure was snagged on the bottom.
“I got super excited and loosened up my drag at that point, I really didn’t want to break her off since I was only using 10-pound test,” he recalled. “When I landed the fish, I honestly didn’t even think about submitting it for the new length record.” After some research, Ingold realizes that the state’s length record for redfish was sitting vacant, and once his application was finalized, his 36 incher claimed the top spot. In the same press release, Florida announced a new youth record cobia and a new state record for mangrove snapper—both of which were caught by Julia Bernstein back in January.
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Florida’s all-tackle state record redfish was caught by George E. Hogan Jr. in 1996 near Cocoa Beach. It weighed 52.31 pounds. The Sunshine State also maintains a separate fly fishing category for red drum and other saltwater species. The record fly-caught redfish was landed by George Braunstein on the Banana River May of 1996. It weighed 43 pounds. The International Gamefish Association All-Tackle World Record redfish was caught by David Deuel near Avon, North Carolina in 1984 and weighed a whopping 94 pounds, 2 ounces.
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