A new West Virginia state record skipjack was caught by Zachary Hankins of Chesapeake, Ohio on May 7. Hankins caught the 19.21-inch, 2.64-pound fish on a crappie jig while fishing from a boat below the R.C. Byrd Lock and Dam tailwater on the Ohio River in Mason County.
Hankins’ skipjack establishes a West Virginia record for length and weight, exceeding the 19.1-inch skipjack that Howard Neal Craig caught last year on the Ohio River. The record also exceeded a 2.61-pound fish caught by Steve Skeens from the Kanawha River in 2002.
More information about West Virginia state record fish is available online at www.wvdnr.gov