Potential world record sea mullet caught at OBX

OBX whiting is 4 ounces heavier than previous record

Jeanine Davidson Botkin of Mt. Sidney, Va, caught the potential new world record sea mullet on May 24 while surf fishing at the Outer Banks. Botkin’s fish weighed 3 pounds, 5 ounces, besting the current record by 4 ounces.

Botkin was fishing near Ramp 38 in Avon. The previous record was caught nearby, around Ramp 34 by Brett Jordan of Florence, S.C. this past November. Botkin caught her fish on a 4-ounce sinker, double drop rig with sand flea flavored Fishbites as bait.

Once she reeled in the fish, Botkin realized it was a special catch. She put it on her digital scale, which registered 3.34 pounds. She decided to have it weighed on an official scale, so she took it to Frank & Fran’s Fisherman’s Friend in Avon. Their official scale registered the fish at 3 pounds, 5 ounces.

Sea mullet was 21 inches long

The folks at Frank & Fran’s helped her start the paperwork for both a new world record and a new N.C. state record.

“The fish weighed 3.31 pounds on our digital scale. So to do the conversion, you multiply .31 times 16. That makes this fish 3 pounds, 5 ounces. We gave the (Botkin) all of the information to file with IGFA and will help in any way we can,” they said.

North Carolina’s state record book does not currently have the southern kingfish listed. Carole Willis, Sportfishing Specialist with the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries, said she has spoken to Botkin about submitting the fish for consideration.

“I spoke with the angler and the weigh station while the fish was there and they were weighing it. The angler was sent and offered the opportunity to apply for a state record but as of yet has not done so. We would certainly recognize it if we received and approved an application. We are always open to considering additions to the state record list,” said Willis.

The fish was 21 inches long and had a girth of 11.5 inches.