An East Tennessee fisherman has set a new bar in Kentucky angling history, reeling in a record-breaking yellow perch that seemed more interested in rewriting the record books than getting away. Lynn Bumgardner of Oliver Springs made quite the splash at Lake Barkley in Trigg County on March 2, finally catching a perch that tipped the scales at 1.58 pounds, as per the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. This hefty catch surpassed the long-standing state record of 1.44 pounds, a heavyweight title held since 2010.
While fishing with a colleague from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bumgardner originally set out to hook some crappie, using grubs for bait in Linton Bay. But destiny had other plans, as he hooked the perch that was about to thrust him into the state fishing spotlight. Describing his once-in-a-lifetime catch, Bumgardner said "When I caught that one, I knew immediately it was a heavy fish." His experience was confirmed when the fish exposed a "great big belly" and distinctive stripes, signaling the catch of a new state-record yellow perch, according to WVLT.
Wrestling the prize to his boat, in a statement obtained by WKYT, the triumphant Bumgardner recounted, "I said 'Lee, I’ve caught the new state record yellow perch.'" Despite his hunch, he transported the fish to the Food Giant grocery store in Cadiz to get an official weight on a certified scale, a necessary step to claim his record victory.
Even though Bumgardner's catch has set a new standard in Kentucky, it still hasn't topped Tennessee's record. That honor remains with a gigantic 2-pound, 5-ounce yellow perch snagged by Jeremy Lorenz back in March 2019. Nonetheless, Bumgardner's record fish is guaranteed to make rounds in the angler community, where size does indeed matter, and Bumgardner told WHAS11 News that it was the largest perch he'd ever clapped eyes on in his fishing career, even if it didn't manage to break the Tennessee record.
