State record suckers

After several near misses in the past two weeks, some Illinois anglers finally landed apparent state-record fish.

And though they may not be the most sought-after records, brothers John and Andrew Chione still have plenty to brag about.

The picture above is of John Chione, 13, who caught a 6.71-pound silver redhorse on April 24 while fishing the Fox River in Montgomery. The picture below is of his brother, 15-year-old Andrew Chione who caught his 3.74-pound shorthead redhorse the next day from the same area. Both photos are courtesy of Mike Noland of Oswegoland Fishin’ Fools and Dale Bowman of the Chicago Sun-Times, who had a good column today on the record-setting brothers.

Both fish were weighed on a certified scale at Prisco’s Fine Foods in Aurora. Bowman said fisheries biologist Vic Santucci confirmed the fish was a silver redhorse.

The brothers are home schooled and had been planning to fish for carp with corn when they went on their record-setting run.

Writes Bowman:

What I find most interesting is how sharp the brothers were. They knew the species of redhorse (something I normally have to look up) and that they were Illinois records. And I like that the brothers and Walsh were back fishing when I called Saturday.

The old record for silver redhorse was 5 pounds, 10 ounces and was set on April 13, 2003 by Jane Keenlance. That fish also came out of the Fox River.

The shorthead redhorse record of 2-2.56 was set on March 22, 2003 by Holly Trent. She was fishing the Spoon River in Fulton County near Bernadotte.

Trent, who was 9 at the time of her catch, is the granddaughter of Bob Henson of Bartonville. Henson once held the silver redhorse record prior to Keenlance’s catch.

“She’s actually been catching suckers down here as long as I have,” Henson said at the time.

Henson still owns the distinction of having turned in the first Illinois record sucker. That came in the spring of 2001, when he caught a 4.85-pound redhorse in the Spoon River near Elmore.

Henson said he decided to enter the fish as a record in an effort to bring attention to a “wonderful fish that’s being passed up.”

Henson had grown tired of seeing suckers tossed up on shore. That’s why he entered his 4.85-pound silver redhorse.

‘‘I don’t expect this record to stand. And that’s great,’’ Henson said at the time. ‘‘One of the reasons I turned this in is because somebody somewhere is going to look at this and say, ‘There’s a record for this.’

‘‘To me it’s a wonderful fish that’s being passed up,’’ Henson said then. ‘‘They’re fantastic fighters, better than channel catfish.

‘‘In fact, I fish a lot with my wife in the Spoon River and we’ll catch five or six smallmouths out of there. And when she catches one, we’ll be disappointed it’s a smallmouth.’’