By Molly Kirk/DWR
Photos by courtesy of Jerry Hall
Ever since the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) added fallfish to the Virginia Online Angler Recognition Program (VARP) state record list, anglers have been catching new state records every few years. This spring, Jerry Hall celebrated the four-year anniversary of his 2021 state record fallfish by going fishing at the same hole on the Cowpasture River.
In 2021, Hall had landed a 3 lb, 5-oz fallfish to claim the state record, but that mark was broken in 2022 and then again in 2024. Hall was looking to reclaim the title. He caught a big one—one that weighed 4 pounds on his scales—but it lost a few ounces during the journey to the DWR regional office for official weighing.
A friend suggested that Hall try the Jackson River for a big fallfish, so he headed there on March 3. “I hooked up with my buddy and we went and floated it,” Hall said. “I set the hook on one and said, ‘It’s big fish!’” By the time Hall got the fish to the Verona DWR regional office, the fish had regurgitated a bit, but it marked 3 pounds, 13.9 ounces on the certified scales and measured 19 7/8 inches, setting the new state record.
Jerry Hall and his new state record fallfish.
Hall, nicknamed the “Push-Button Slayer,” caught the fish using the same Zebco push-button reel he fishes with consistently with a Joe’s Fly tied onto 6-pound test. “Fallfish just fight hard. The first [state record] was accident, and the second one I was actually targeting,” he said. “I have a big canoe, and my buddy was sitting down, and I was standing up. He could feel the canoe shaking, but my knees were shaking when I was fighting the fish because I told him it felt like it was going to be close to four pounds.
“To have two state records, that’s pretty good,” Hall said. “I don’t know what words can describe it. It’s a good accomplishment.”