Angler credits his dad for introducing him to fishing
Alphonso Jackson of Maxton caught the new North Carolina state record redbreast sunfish on June 10. Jackson caught the fish in the Lumber River on a live cricket near Wagram. His fish weighed 2-pounds, 1-ounce, and broke the previous record by 5 ounces. That record stood since May 29, 1983 with Ronald Stanley’s 1-pound, 12-ounce fish from Big Swamp in Bladen County.
The 43-year-old Jackson was fishing with his three kids in a pond on June 10. But the fish weren’t biting there. So Jackson told the family it was time to move on in hopes of jumpstarting a good bite.
“We started fishing in a pond, but weren’t having any luck. So I said to my kids, ‘Let’s go back to where I learned how to fish.’ And this is what we caught,” Jackson said.
Jackson credited his dad for giving him the fishing bug.
“I’d like to thank my daddy for teaching me how to catch fish and where to catch fish,” he said.
Safeway Market in Maxton weighed the fish on their certified scales. Then Jackson began the process of having the fish recognized by the NCWRC as the new state record.
Click here to see all of North Carolina’s freshwater fishing records.
Click here for interesting facts on redbreast sunfish.
