Angler’s kids watch dad break state fishing record in Missouri. See their proud faces

Brooke Baitinger
·2 min read
3

An angler’s kids watched as their dad broke a Missouri fishing record — becoming the first person of the year to do so, officials said.

Jeffrey Needles used a throwline to catch a 12-ounce yellow perch, which trumps the previous state record by two ounces, Missouri Department of Conservation Officials said in a Jan. 11 news release.

Needles had “talked about breaking this record a lot” before the Lake Lotawana resident set out to do it in that very lake on Jan. 3, he told officials in the release.

“We’ve always had yellow perch in Lake Lotawana, and I thought, ‘What if I did a throwline for alternative records?’ My wife asked me what I was doing that day and I jokingly told her, ‘I’m going out to break the record for yellow perch!’”

That’s exactly what happened, officials said. He created a leader at the lake and “immediately caught a yellow perch.”

“I was very surprised to get one so quickly, so I thought I may be on to something,” he said. “It was about 45 minutes later and I was getting discouraged, and cold, but I caught a second one that looked bigger.”

The 12-ounce fish was a winner, and Needles accomplished his goal of being the first person to set a state fishing record in 2024, officials said.

“A big driver was I wanted to get the state record for yellow perch, and I also wanted to be the first state record of 2024, so I knew I needed to get it done quickly,” he said.

The fish survived the weighing process on a certified scale about seven miles away in Blue Springs, so Needles let it go afterward, officials said. He plans to have a replica made of his record catch.

“I do weekly fishing tournaments with my buddies, and a lot of guys say record perch is in that lake,” he said. “I have friends trying to break the record for pole-and-line, so for me to get the alternative records method is fun. And having my kids there for that moment made it even more special.”

Jeffrey Needles used a throwline to catch a 12-ounce yellow perch, which trumps the state record by two ounces. “Having my kids there for that moment made it even more special,” he said.
Jeffrey Needles used a throwline to catch a 12-ounce yellow perch, which trumps the state record by two ounces. “Having my kids there for that moment made it even more special,” he said.

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