New Flint River Record: 52.2-lb Gulf Striped Bass

Here’s There’s a new heavyweight champion in the Flint River. Back in March, Southwest Georgia fisherman Travis Harrell hauled in a massive 52.2-pound Gulf striped bass while fishing below the Georgia Power dam in Albany. He was casting from the dam wall, a spot known to locals simply as “The Wall.”

This catch now holds the official record for the Flint River.

Gulf striped bass are different from the Atlantic variety. They’re a unique strain that depends on the Flint’s cold, spring-fed water to survive—making this river one of the few places you’ll ever find one this big.

Harrell caught the fish on a 2-ounce pink bucktail jig tipped with an 8-inch white plastic grub, slinging it out on a long 150-foot cast from shore. After a 20-minute fight, his buddy Doug Willbey netted the fish clean. At first weigh-in, it topped 50 pounds. Later at the DNR office, it officially hit 52.2—smashing the old record of 48.5 pounds that had stood since 1983.

According to Harrell, a small group of die-hard locals fish The Wall year-round for everything from catfish to hybrids. When the big stripers start pushing up in the spring, they stack up at the dam, giving bank anglers their shot at something special.

“All my family has caught 30-pound stripers from The Wall,” Harrell said. “My biggest before this one was 22 pounds. It takes commitment to land a striper like that. That’s why I always take vacation in the spring to fish there.”