Pure redear sunfish: Now, we know what Ken Krumreich's Illinois record fish is

Pure redear sunfish: Now, we know what Ken Krumreich’s Illinois record fish is

By Dale Bowman

Ken Krumreich and his Illinois record fish, either a redear or redear hybrid.
Provided

Now, we know what Ken Krumreich’s Illinois-record fish is. And, the answer is pure redear sunfish.

Click here to read the original account of Krumreich and his catch.

Here is the word from Dan Stephenson, Illinois fisheries chief for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, arriving this afternoon:

It’s final. Dan Stephenson, Illinois Chief of Fisheries, reports today that he has received final word from geneticist Dr. Mark Davis with the Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign. The new state record is a pure Redear Sunfish not a hybrid. It weighed 3 pounds 1.1 ounce and was caught in Grundy County on May 19. The fish measured 15 ¼ long and had a [14 ½] girth. Genetics testing was required of this fish since redear sunfish readily hybridize with bluegill and green sunfish and possibly other closely related sunfish species. Ken Krumreich caught a beautiful fish and now holds a record that may stand for a long time. Sunfish this large are very uncommon.

I love that last line: “Sunfish this large are very uncommon.”

Krumreich’s fish supplants a record that stood more than 33 years: That redear (2 pounds, 12.3 ounces), was caught by Mike DeMattei on Sept. 7, 1985, from the Marian Country Club Lake in Williamson County.

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