Robert Glover knew that Cheat Lake in West Virginia’s Monongalia County was a prime spot for pumpkinseed sunfish. After all, he’d often caught them on prior visits to the 13-mile-long reservoir.
Then his sons told him that, in 2024, the state had opened a catch-and-release record category for the brightly-spotted panfish requiring a minimum length of nine inches.
That’s all Glover needed to hear. He began his hunt to claim the biggest pumpkinseed in West Virginia.
A Clear Target in Mind
On Aug. 6, Glover launched his 16-foot pontoon boat into Cheat Lake, located in extreme northern West Virginia — very close to Glover’s home in Morgantown.
“I looked at old photos I had of pumpkinseeds I’d caught on Cheat Lake and I saw several that were bigger than nine inches,” Glover, a 52-year-old hardwood floor finisher and owner of Rob’s Hardwood, told Wired2fish. “I started fishing it two years ago with friends for walleyes, and we caught all kinds of fish there.”
Glover headed out with the intent of catching a bigger pumpkinseed than the current record, a 9.13-inch pumpkinseed that Sierra Adamson caught July 14 from the Tygart Valley River. Her fish was the second state record for pumpkinseed. Ken Neer caught the first record fish, a 9.09-incher from Preston County’s Fairfax Pond, on June 25.
“I started drift-fishing over a big Cheat Lake flat that was near a deep current seam,” explained Glover. “I was using a drop-shot rig with just a 3/8-ounce weight at the line end, 6-pound test line, and an earthworm on a number 8 hook 18 inches above the weight.”
‘A Good Fishing Day’
He fished two drop shot rigs with worms, keeping his spinning rods in rod holders as he made controlled drifts.
“It was a good fishing day: I caught about 50 fish, including a smallmouth, 30 catfish, and a 9.25-inch pumpkinseed sunfish,” he said. “About mid-day, my 10-foot rod bounced — and I knew it wasn’t a catfish, which stay deep. I started reeling and saw it was a nice pumpkinseed when I netted it.”
He measured it at 9.76-inches on a ruler he had in the boat, and called the state Division of Natural Resources (DNR) office.
“I took a phone picture of my fish on my ruler, and they said, yep, that’s a record,” Glover continued. “Pretty soon a couple of state DNR folks met me at Sunset Beach Marina where they weighed and measured it.”
Two Fishing Recognitions at Once
His fish was verified as a state record right then, measuring 9.76 inches and weighing 0.75 pounds.
Glover received a certificate from the state, awarding his pumpkinseed the new West Virginia record. Along with that certificate, he also received a Master Angler award plaque from the state.
“I had to catch 22 different species of West Virginia fish to get a Master Angler plaque,” Glover said proudly. “I’m only the ninth person to get a Master Angler award. It took 18 months for me to catch all 22 species in six different categories from public water in the state to get that plaque.”
