Tag: flathead

‘Monster’ catfish reeled through ice during epic Iowa sunset

An Iowa angler who was ice fishing with minnows recently on Lake Manawa was surprised by the “constant power” exhibited by the 34-pound flathead catfish at the end of his line.

An Iowa angler who was ice fishing with minnows recently on Lake Manawa was surprised by the “constant power” exhibited by the massive catfish at the end of his line.

“The fight was unlike anything I’ve ever caught through the ice,” the Council Bluffs resident told Field & Stream. “It was constant power. It was a whole new battle to get that big of a fish to turn its head on a rod and reel that wasn’t meant for something of its size.”

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The flathead catfish, caught during a spectacular sunset on Jan. 31, tipped a scale at 34 pounds before Campbell placed the fish back into the hole and watched it swim free.

He told Outdoor Life: “I only caught one fish that night but it took us the whole night to get it in.”

The catch caught the attention of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, which on Wednesday shared the news via Facebook.

“Surprise! That’s no panfish. That’s a 40-inch, 34-pound Iowa Master Angler flathead catfish!” the agency exclaimed. “Gavin Campbell was recently ice fishing Lake Manawa when he pulled this monster from the ice.”

Many of the comments pertained to the beautiful sunset on display in the image captured by Campbell’s friend,  Ryan Higginbotham.

Iowa’s Master Angler Program recognizes exceptional catches in state waters.

Campbell told Field & Stream that it was his largest-ever ice-fishing catch.

For the sake of comparison, however, the Iowa state record for flathead catfish stands at 81 pounds. The behemoth was caught at Ellis Lake in 1958.

The all-tackle world record is the 1998 catch of a 123-pound flathead catfish at Elk City Reservoir in Kansas.

Angler’s giant flathead catfish could shatter record

A Pennsylvania angler, using a trout head for bait, caught a 56.3-pound flathead catfish last Sunday night to set a pending record.

A Pennsylvania angler, using a trout head for bait, caught a 56.3-pound flathead catfish last Sunday night to set a pending state record for the species.

Jonathan Pierce reeled the monstrous flathead from the Schuylkill River  after it devoured the bait and “took off like a torpedo,” he told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “I had my drag tight, and it was still pulling line.”

Pierce, 34, a father of four from Roxborough, kept the fish alive overnight in a 45-gallon aerated plastic container so it could be weighed Monday on a certified scale. The fish was released back into the river after the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission took measurements.

If Pierce’s record submission is approved by the PFBC – the process can take days or weeks – the catch will shatter the record of 50 pounds, 7 ounces, set in 2019 on the Susquehanna River.

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It’ll also become the largest fish on the PFBC’s list of rod-and-reel fishing records. (As of Friday morning, a 54-pound, 3-ounce muskellunge caught in 1924 topped the list.)

Pierce, who was using a 10-foot rod and baitcaster reel, told Penn Live that he hooked the flathead on his first cast after arriving at his fishing spot at 8:30 p.m.

The angler, who releases all of the flathead catfish he catches, keeps trout for table fare and sometimes uses their heads as catfish bait.

The giant flathead, after its initial run, swam into a rocky snag and held firm for 2-3 minutes. Pierce loosened the reel’s drag to take pressure off the fish, and it swam free of the rocks, allowing for an easier fight.

Eight minutes later it was netted by Pierce’s girlfriend, and Pierce knew immediately that it was record-size, and took the necessary steps to keep it alive overnight.

He was so excited that he hardly slept.

–Images of pending Pennsylvania-record flathead catfish are courtesy of Jonathan Pierce