The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries recently certified two new state record fish that are also certified as all tackle world record fish.
Craig Thompson of Southport, NC caught a 2-pound, 1-ounce creolefish in the Gulf Stream off Ocean Isle Beach on Sept. 1. and Vickie Hammonds of Wilmington caught a 3-pound, 13-ounce Gulf kingfish in Kure Beach on Feb. 4.
Previously, North Carolina did not list a state record creolefish or Gulf kingfish but created the categories after Thompson and Hammonds applied for the state record. Both fish were exceptionally large for North Carolina and were certified by the International Game Fish Association as All Tackle World Record fish.
The previous creolefish world record was a 1-pound, 8-ounce fish caught off Apalachicola, Fla. The previous Gulf kingfish world record was a 3-pound, 1-ounce fish caught off Hatteras Island.
Thompson’s creolefish measured 17 ½ inches total length and had a 10 ¼-inch girth. He caught the fish using a cigar minnow as bait on a 50-pound braid fishing line with a 6 ½-foot Shimano Trevalia rod and an Avet SX 6/4 reel.
Download a photo of Thompson and his creolefish.
Hammonds’ Gulf kingfish measured 21 inches total length (tip of the nose to the tip of the tail) and had an 11-inch girth. She caught the fish using fresh shrimp as bait on a 20-pound test fishing line with an eight-foot Quantum, medium heavy rod and a Star Aerial EX8000 Spinning Reel.
Download a photo of Hammonds and her Gulf kingfish.
For more information, contact Carole Willis, with the North Carolina Saltwater Fishing Tournament, at carole.y.willis@ncdenr.gov.