July 2023 - 11

NEWS
Riverton angler breaks
two state records in April
record. I was like, 'Man, there's some big white
suckers biting today,' " Edwards said. " The next
thing I know I feel a bite, and it was a pretty
good bite. I set the hook really hard and that
fish did not move. I knew it was a good one.
When it started coming in my daughter said,
'Dad, that one is huge.' I knew right away it
was a new state record.
" Within a couple of weeks of each other
I caught two state records. Who does that?
That's pretty neat. "
Added Game and Fish Fisheries Chief Alan
Osterland: " Getting outside fishing with family
and friends is pretty special on its own, but
combining that experience with catching a
state state record fish would be hard to beat.
However, Patrick beat that by catching two
state record fish in the same month! "
Edwards targeted suckers when he broke
both records. Edwards said he's talked to other
Patrick Edwards holds his state-record white sucker, which weighed 6 pounds, 8.45 ounces. (Photo courtesy of Patrick Edwards)
RIVERTON - Patrick Edwards prides
himself in going after big fish in Wyoming.
The Riverton angler took that to a new level
during about a two-week span in April.
On April 2, Edwards broke the state record
for longnose sucker. Actually, he shattered the
record with a 3-pound, 15.6-ounce fish. The
old record was set last year by Christopher
Bobo of Casper at 2 pounds, 11.3 ounces. It
marked the third consecutive year the longnose
sucker record was broken.
Then on April 17, Edwards broke his own
state record for white sucker with a 6-pound,
8.45-ounce fish. His old record from March
2020 was 5 pounds, 6.45 ounces.
" Living in Wyoming my whole life and
being an avid angler, I never thought I would
have one state record - let alone two, "
Edwards said.
Both record fish were caught along the same
stretch of the Wind River, and Edwards' previous
record for white sucker also came from the
Wind River. Edwards said he used a pickerel
rig for both fish, which consists of a slip sinker,
hook, another section of line and another hook.
Each hook was baited with a piece of worm.
Edwards didn't know right away his
longnose sucker was a record because he wasn't
sure what he caught. He knew it wasn't a white
sucker. He took pictures of the fish and sent
them to some people he knew. They confirmed
it was a longnose sucker - and a big one.
Edwards went to the Wyoming Game and
Fish Department's website and looked up the
state record for longnose sucker. He knew his
fish was bigger. That was confirmed after it was
weighed on a registered scale at a post office
in Riverton.
The white sucker record may also tie a world
record. According to the International Game
Fish Association, the world record white sucker
of 6.8 pounds was caught out of the Rainy
River in Minnesota in 1984. Edwards said his
fish is still being considered by the IGFA for
its record books.
The only world-record fish Wyoming boasts
is the golden trout when C.S. Reed of Omaha,
Nebraska, landed an 11-pound, 4-ounce fish
from Cook Lake in Sublette County in 1948.
Edwards said his father-in-law and daughter
were with him when he broke the white
sucker record.
" My father-in-law and daughter caught
white suckers that were close to my old state
anglers in Wyoming and around the country
about eating suckers and was told they are tasty
when prepared properly.
" I had never used a sucker for anything
other than bait. I never thought to eat them, "
he said with a laugh. " They do taste good.
They're not as flakey-white like a walleye. They
have oils in them, kind of like a trout. "
Edwards describes himself as a " multi-species
nut " when it comes to fishing. " I've caught
tiger muskies all the way down to creek chubs.
I try to catch everything that swims. "
Edwards also likes to target big fish, and he
will continue to do so.
" For me that's kind of where it's at, " he
said. " I like to get my kids on big fish. I almost
have to pinch myself to remind myself that
it's real. To do this with a species that gets
overlooked and is demonized in the fishing
world is pretty cool. "
- Robert Gagliardi, WGFD
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INFORMATION ABOUT
STATE-RECORD FISH IN
WYOMING AND RULES
ON HOW TO SUBMIT A
STATE RECORD.
Wyoming Wildlife | 11

https://wgfd.wyo.gov/Fishing-and-Boating/State-Record-Fish

July 2023

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