From Massachusetts to Georgia, anglers are hauling in huge catches

A Massachusetts man brought in a monster fish while ice fishing this week and a Georgia man broke a 25-year-old fishing record.

Jamie Pollard, hailing from Hinsdale, Mass., was ice fishing at the Stockbridge Bowl on Sunday. He snagged a fish and pulled it up on shore. He caught a brown trout weighing 15 pounds and 13 ounces. The Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife called the catch “incredible.”

The department has been stocking the water with brown trout at least 18 inches long in recent years, according to CBS Boston.

Brown trout have a slender, reddish-brown body with a long, narrow head. They are a medium sized fish that can grow up to 39 inches long and weigh up to 44 pounds, in some places. In other places, such as a small river, brown trout can weigh 2 pounds or less.

“We’re extremely proud of the awesome fish our hatcheries and district staff put out each year,” the department posted on Facebook.

Jamie brought the fish to Onota Boat Livery in Pittsfield to confirm its weight.

Meanwhile, in Georgia, Christian Blake Jones caught a record setting hickory shad while fishing on the Ogeechee River, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

The fish caught by Christian weighed 2 lbs, 3 oz, which broke the record of 1 lb, 15 oz., set in 1995. He was not intending to catch a hickory shad and instead was targeting crappies.

"It is beyond exciting to hear about a new state record, and it emphasizes the fantastic fishing opportunities found in Georgia," Scott Robinson, Assistant Chief of Fisheries for the Wildlife Resources Division, said in a statement.

Hickory Shad spend most of their time in the Atlantic Ocean but will return to certain rivers to spawn, including Ogeechee River. They are described as a long, compressed fish with grayish green coloring on top that fades into silver on the sides with a dark spot on their shoulder.