CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Picture this: you're enjoying a quiet day on the water, you set a brand-new state fishing record, and less than three weeks later, someone else snatches your crown. And then, it happens again. Welcome to the hottest fishing derby in the Mountain State this summer.
The West Virginia state record for the pumpkinseed sunfish—a record that literally did not exist before this June—has been broken three times in just over a month.

The Fishing Frenzy Timeline

The category for this brightly colored panfish was created by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (WVDNR) back in 2024. However, the record remained vacant because no one could meet the agency's minimum length requirement. But this summer, the situation exploded. The benchmark shifted at an unbelievable pace across three different counties:

Date (2026) Angler Body of Water Length Weight
June 25 Ken Neer Fairfax Pond 9.09 inches 0.60 lbs
July 14 Sierra Adamson Tygart Valley River 9.13 inches 0.62 lbs
August 6 Robert Glover Cheat Lake 9.76 inches 0.75 lbs
"The pumpkinseed state record category was established in 2024... Until this year, a record pumpkinseed had not been caught. Amazingly, however, this is the third record set in the last month for this beautiful sunfish," marveled Paul Johansen, Chief of the WVDNR Wildlife Resources Section.

How Glover Broke the System

The latest record-holder, Robert Glover of Morgantown, didn’t just stumble upon his trophy—he was actively hunting for it. To land a giant nearing 10 inches (an absolute monster for a species whose absolute maximum size is around 12 inches), he used a classic, time-tested approach:

  • Bait: A large nightcrawler.
  • Tackle: Light 6-pound test line to avoid spooking the wary fish.
  • Location: Boat fishing on Cheat Lake.

Despite its miniature size, the pumpkinseed is a fish with attitude. Its jaws and throat teeth are perfectly adapted for crushing snail shells, meaning this panfish hits bait with surprising aggression. Given that the record jumped from 9.09 to 9.76 inches in just six weeks, the biggest question echoing around local marinas right now is: will Glover's mark finally stand the test of time?