Georgia created a new state record category after angler Ryan R. Simmons caught this 7-pound, 0.58-ounce queen triggerfish on April 7.
The fish is a new species in the Georgia Saltwater Game Fish Program and no prior record existed.
Simons caught the record-setting fish offshore at an area commonly known as the South Ledge with Capt. Henry Williamson aboard the Sweet Melissa. He was bottom fishing with a Shimano jigging rod with Shimano Speedmaster reel spooled with 65-pound braided line and dead ballyhoo as bait.
The fish was weighed at the DNR Richmond Hill Fish Hatchery on a scale certified by the Georgia Department of Agriculture. The fish was 30.75 inches total length, 19.5 inches fork length, and 17 inches in girth.
The IGFA all-tackle world record for queen triggerfish weighed 14 pounds, 3 ounces. It was caught off Cancun, Mexico in 2009.
To see Georgia’s saltwater state records, go to coastalgadnr.org.