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BULL SHOALS — Daniel Bridgmon, an 11-year-old angler from Midway (Baxter County), was fishing with his father June 14 below Bull Shoals Dam when he managed to land a 1-pound, 15-ounce white sucker that later proved to be the first entry ever into Arkansas’s record books for the species.
Although their intention was to bring trout to the stringer, the sucker stole the show when it bit the worm at the end of Bridgmon’s line.
AGFC District Fisheries Supervisor Joe Chilton positively identified the fish species and witnessed the weight on certified scales.
“The White River below Bull Shoals Dam is renowned for its exceptional fishing, and this record highlights the diverse angling opportunities available in Arkansas waters,” Chilton said. “It also underscores the importance of introducing youth to the joys of fishing. Records like Daniel’s inspire the next generation of anglers and remind us why protecting our aquatic resources is so vital.”
Daniel’s father, Thomas, said the sucker put up a solid fight before being landed.
“We were fishing at where the big spring comes into the state park, and he was fishing a nightcrawler on the bottom,” Thomas Bridgmon said. “He thought it was a brown trout at first until we got it close enough to see it.”
Thomas Bridgmon says they weren’t sure what they had caught, much less that it was a state record.
“(Daniel) is always interested in discovering things and he really wanted to know what it was and how much it weighed,” Bridgmon said. “I called a local fly shop and they said the state park where we were at had a scale and staff that might help. They knew it was a sucker of some sort, and when we weighed it, it came up heavier than one of the sucker state records we could find, so we drove to Mountain Home to get an official identification and weight.”
Chilton positively identified the white sucker, and since there was no previous state record, Daniel’s catch sets the bar for the species.
The Bridgmons are recent transplants to Arkansas, and they have fished the Bull Shoals tailwater a few times since moving to The Natural State from Houston in January.
“The state park is only a 10-minute drive from the house, so we really enjoy fishing there,” Thomas Bridgmon said. “It’s pretty exciting to see Daniel’s catch being recognized like this.”
