St. Peters angler catches record skipjack herring from Missouri River

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) congratulates Anthony Rozniak of St. Peters for tying the current state records for skipjack herring. Rozniak was fishing with his brother on the Missouri River Dec. 6 when he reeled in the 3-pound fish. The catch ties two previous pole-and-line records – one recorded in 2019 from the Osage River and the third in 2017 from the Osage River.

“My brother and I headed out to catfish that day,” Rozniak recalled. “We threw some jigs out to see what was there and the first fish I hooked into was a one-and-a-half pound skipjack.”

Rozniak said the fish looked big so he looked up the state record.

“The very next cast was double that size,” he said. “We had only been out fishing for 15 minutes by the time I caught it. I looked at my brother and said, ‘I hate to cancel our fishing trip, but we got a state record! We got to go!’”

The fish was weighed on a certified scale at MDC’s St. Louis Regional office. This is the fifth state record fish recorded for 2023.

Rozniak didn’t expect to reel in a record fish, but he did recall doing some research earlier this year.

“It’s funny because about five months ago, I did look through the list of state records and said to my brother, if we did break one, it would be a skipjack,” he said. “I honestly never thought it would happen, but I feel extremely lucky.”

Rozniak said his family plans to mount the fish for his upcoming birthday.

Missouri state record fish are recognized in two categories: pole-and-line and alternative methods. Alternative methods include: trotline, throwline, limb line, bank line, jug line, gig, bow, crossbow, underwater spearfishing, snagging, snaring, grabbing, or atlatl. For more information on state record fish, visit http://short.mdc.mo.gov/ZCp.