Six-year-old Clarissa Munguia caught a whopper of a redear sunfish during the Memorial Day weekend at Patagonia Lake - tying a state record.
Clarissa reeled in the fish, which weighed 2.5 pounds and measured 11 3/4 inches long, catching the eye of some 15 anglers who left their fishing hole to get a closer look.
"I was excited that I caught it," said Clarissa. "It was real heavy."
Another angler measured and weighed the fish since the Patagonia Marina in Patagonia Lake State Park was closed, explained Albert Munguia, Clarissa's father.
Munguia photographed his daughter holding her prize fish before it was released into the water and quickly swam away.
Clarissa tied the state's catch-and-release record for inland waters, said Mark Hart, a spokesman for the Arizona Game and Fish Department.
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"She caught it with a nightcrawler," said Hart about the earthworm she used as bait.
Clarissa baits and casts her own line and will be vying for the statewide 2010 catch-and-release category for Fish of the Year.
"In that category, it is based on length only and rounded down to the nearest inch. A quarter-inch more and she would have had the state record," Hart said cheerfully.
The other catch-and-release record holder for the redear sunfish is held by Warren Hollen, who caught an 11-incher July 3, 2004, at Papago Ponds in Phoenix, says the Arizona Game and Fish Department website at azgfd.gov/h_f/state_records.shtml
Meanwhile, Munguia is relishing in the accolades his daughter is receiving since she isn't quite sure what the fuss is all about.
"It was just another day of fishing to her," said Munguia. "I am more excited than she is. She doesn't understand what she has done."
Clarissa and her sister, Athena, 5, and their dad were at the lake by 6 a.m. for their fishing bouts, and then back again at 8 p.m. for another three hours before calling it a night.
The girls outdid dad. They caught and released 19 fish - bluegill and sunfish - between both of them with their $30 fishing poles their grandfather bought them, while dad caught no fish with his $150 pole.
Contact reporter Carmen Duarte at 573-4104 or cduarte@azstarnet.com
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