BERLIN- For the second time in less than a year, a Berlin resident has set a new state Atlantic record for white perch in the same local creek in nearly the same area.
On July 30, Ryan Timmons, 10, of Berlin, was fishing in Ayers Creek when he landed a 14-and-a-half inch white perch. Timmons decided to have the white perch weighed as a potential record at the Martin Fish Company in West Ocean City and it came in at 1.65 pounds. Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Fisheries Biologist Steve Doctor inspected and confirmed the species and this week the DNR confirmed Timmons’ 14-and-a-half inch white perch was indeed the new state Atlantic record for white perch.
“I was fishing from a boat with my step-dad and sister, casting a white Twister Tail jig into the shadow of fallen trees along the bank of the creek when the fish took the bait and I knew it was big,” said Timmons.
Timmons’ new state Atlantic record white perch eclipsed the previous record set just last November. Last fall, Berlin’s Finn McCabe caught a 1.2-pound white perch in Ayers Creek and it was later confirmed by the DNR as the new state record. Eight months later, Timmons topped McCabe’s short-lived record.
