Yellow perch’s Missouri fishing record broken twice within days

Not all record fish are giants.

But the 2-pound, 3-ounce yellow perch that Brian Holiday of Fordland caught on Jan. 27 was big enough to break the Missouri record for the species.

Holiday caught the fish using a fishing pole at Bull Shoals Lake, and it’s the second time the yellow perch record has been broken in Missouri in 2020.

“Missouri is on the very southern range for yellow perch, so records for this fish are uncommon,” said MDC Fisheries Programs Specialist Andrew Branson, in a news release. “It’s even more unique that we’ve had two state-record yellow perch caught within days of each other.”

Record broken twice in a matter of days

Holiday caught his state-record fish just three days after a 1-pound, 14-ounce record had been caught in Nodaway County. MDC staff verified Holiday’s fish’s weight using a certified scale in Springfield.