New NC state record... 1lb 2oz Green Sunfish!

[Woolly Bugger]

A fisherman from Orange County has caught a state-record sunfish.

John Michael Deaton of Rougemont landed a 1-pound, 2-ounce green sunfish on May 5, breaking the previous record by three ounces.

Deaton was fishing a pond on the Butner-Falls of Neuse Game Lands.

He was using ultralight tackle and a live red worm for bait when he landed the 11-inch long sunfish.

Deaton had the fish weighed on certified scales, then verified by a fisheries biologist with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.

The previous record was a 15-ounce fish caught by Robert Womack of Benson in May 2005.

Green sunfish are members of the lepomis family of sunfish that includes bluegills, redbreast, redear (shellcrackers) and warmouth.

These fish are often referred to collectively as "bream."

[Woolly Bugger]

Photo by N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.