Got mine on cut sucker too. We had no shad. Tough to compare days a week apart, but we had a lot more pecks on the shad. But mine hammered a sucker. When I have both options next time, it will be a tough choice.
Just looked at another photo of that fish and she looked like she put on a couple inches from the first picture to this second one. Just so no one accuses me of inflating my fish, she was 26.5 or 26.25″. I did not get a girth.