Booneville Angler Lands State Record

MDWFP PRESS RELEASE

JACKSON – On Monday, March 21, Wesley Cummings of Booneville was fishing in Mill Creek at Pickwick Lake near Iuka.  While crappie fishing using a small pink jig, Mr. Cummings hooked and landed a large yellow perch. The fish was positively identified by Tyler Stubbs, a fisheries biologist with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks (MDWFP) and was weighed on a certified scale.  Mr. Cummings’ fish weighed 1.46 pounds, becoming the new Mississippi state record yellow perch!  “Catching a yellow perch is rare, so the potential of seeing a new state record was unexpected and exciting. I was more than happy to certify the fish for Mr. Cummings,” said Tyler Stubbs.

Yellow Perch are native to the Tennessee River drainage.  Due to the construction of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, this fish now occurs in the Tombigbee River drainage, particularly north of Fulton.  Most yellow perch are caught by anglers who are fishing for crappie and bream