flathead catfish – Syndication Server

Angler catches ‘certified river monster,’ just as he said he would

A Pennsylvania angler predicted he would catch a state record and he did it, hauling in a flathead catfish 10 pounds bigger than the record.

Pennsylvania fisherman Mike Wherley predicted he would catch a state record and last weekend he did it, hauling in a 66.4-pound flathead catfish from the Susquehanna River while using a foot-long trout as bait.

PennLive.com referred to the catch as a “certified river monster,” as Wherley had taken the flathead catfish to Columbia Bait and Tackle where it was weighed on a state-certified scale and verified by Jeff Schmidt of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.

“I knew it was a record as soon as I saw it,” tackle shop owner Matt Musselman told Lancaster Online. “I see these big fish all the time, and this was the biggest.”

The current state record for a flathead catfish is 56 pounds, 3 ounces caught by Jonathan Pierce in the Schuylkill River in 2020. Wherley’s previous best was 44 pounds, caught in the same area below Safe Harbor Dam where he regularly fishes.

“I’ve told everybody in my family I was going to catch a state record someday, and there I did it,” Wherley said, according to Outdoor Life. “That’s incredible.”

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Once the fish was properly documented, Wherley drove it back to the Susquehanna River and returned it to the water.

“The fish got that big by living a long time, so I wanted him to keep on living,” Wherley said, according to Outdoor Life.

Photos courtesy of Columbia Bait and Tackle.

Massive, near-record catfish ‘still out there’ for Iowa anglers

Iowa biologists conducting a recent fisheries survey on the Missouri River hauled up a very pregnant flathead catfish that weighed 72.4 pounds before it was released.

Iowa biologists conducting a recent survey on the Missouri River hauled up a very pregnant flathead catfish that weighed 72.4 pounds before it was released.

The massive fish was less than nine pounds shy of the state-record catch of 81 pounds, set in 1958.

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A photo of the catfish was shared Tuesday via Facebook by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources as a teaser for anglers who plan to get out on the water this weekend.

https://www.facebook.com/iowadnr/posts/pfbid02Sz4pHMLvEHuUJkbAkoy4ZxLb3w6FnpAwsiRwqLJLtQ2PfpWDypKKd3sk5UpUiV6ml

“This 49.5-inch, 72.4-pound flathead catfish is still out there, ready for you to catch Saturday on National Catfish Day!” the agency boasted. “Flathead catfish are native to Iowa. In June they usually begin spawning and can be found in surprisingly small streams.”

National Catfish Day is held annually on June 25 to “celebrate the value of farm-raised catfish” as table fare. For anglers, it’s just another excuse to go fishing.

The Facebook post generated 100 comments, mostly from people sharing images of giant catfish they’ve caught in Iowa waters.

Angler lands ‘gigantic’ flathead catfish, shatters 16-year-old record

A South Dakota angler has shattered a 16-year-old state record with the recent catch of a 67-pound, 8-ounce flathead catfish.

Ethan Evink, visiting from Iowa, caught the massive flathead while fishing with cutbait at dawn on the Missouri River in Union County.

According to South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks, Evink’s catch shatters a record (63 pounds, 8 ounces) that had stood since 2006.

The agency announced the new record Thursday, stating on Facebook:

“Ethan Evink of Hospers, Iowa, has set the new state record for flathead catfish at a gigantic 67 pounds 8 ounces!

“This monster came in at 51.5 inches long with a girth of 32.5 inches from the Missouri River in Union County. Ethan caught the flathead catfish at 5 a.m. using cutbait. Congratulations Ethan!”

For the sake of comparison, the all-tackle world record for flathead catfish stands at 123 pounds. That catch occurred at Elk City Reservoir in Kansas in 1998.

–Image showing Ethan Evink with his record flatheaad catfish is courtesy of South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks

Angler reels massive catfish from canal after marathon battle

An Arizona angler pulled off a remarkable feat recently by reeling a 42-pound flathead catfish from a canal near his home after a marathon battle on light line.

An Arizona angler pulled off a remarkable feat recently by reeling a 42-pound flathead catfish from a canal near his home after an epic battle on light line.

“I had no idea something that big would be in there,” Trino Diaz, of Peoria, told FTW Outdoors.

Diaz, 28, was fishing with Ryan Leren on the morning of Sept. 21. Diaz used 10-pound-test line, sufficient for the carp, striped bass and bluegill he was catching.

But then the catfish struck a chicken liver used as bait, and in the ensuing 45-minute battle Diaz hurried a quarter-mile alongside the canal to keep pace with the fleeing fish.

“After the first 10 minutes or so, and not seeing the fish, I told Ryan that I possibly have my personal record,” Diaz recalled. “I didn’t want to rush or manhandle the fish since I was using 10-pound-test line and not expecting to catch anything that big.”

Trino Diaz poses with giant flathead catfish caught from an SRP canal in Peoria

The anglers first saw the “monster” 25 minutes into the battle. After another 20 minutes they realized that the fish was too large for the net.

“He was so big only his head fit in the net,” Diaz said, adding that ultimately he and Leren simply tossed the net and catfish onto the bank so the fish could be weighed before it was released.

“We could not believe how big the fish was,” Diaz said. “Needless to say, it shattered my personal best by over 30 pounds.”

For the sake of comparison, the Arizona record for flathead catfish is 76-pounds, 8 ounces. But that fish was caught from a boat on lake, on much heavier line.

–Image courtesy of Trino Diaz

Boy saves allowance for new rod, lands 83-pound catfish

Autry Hogan saved his allowance to buy a new fishing rod and last Saturday the 7-year-old Tennessean broke in the lucky rod by landing a catfish as big as himself.

Autry Hogan saved his allowance to buy a new fishing rod and last Saturday the 7-year-old Tennessean broke in his new equipment by landing an 83-pound catfish.

Autry, who was fishing on the Cumberland River with his father, grandfather, and younger brother, required help holding up a catfish that was about as long (47 inches) as he is tall.

The fish was released but based on a photo supplied by the family, Clarksville Now reported that the species “appears to be a flathead” catfish.

Autry Hogan and his father hoist 83-pound catfish. Courtesy photo

The Tennessee record for flathead catfish – 85 pounds, 15 ounces – has stood since 1993.

Clarksville Now reported that Autry’s new goal is to beat that record.

“Now, he has pretty high expectations,” said his father, Joshua Hogan.

Catfish breaks angler’s scale; might it have broken a record, too?

A fisherman hooked a flathead catfish that took 20 minutes to land. He discovered later it could have been a record, but it was too late.

Michael Cuppett was fishing in a bass tournament with his father on Lake Sinclair in Georgia recently when he hooked into a huge fish that he fought for 20 minutes, a classic sign it was not a bass but a catfish.

“Every time we got it close to the boat, it would pull line back out and it would start once again,” John Cuppett told WMAZ.

Sure enough, it was a flathead catfish, caught on a plastic lizard tossed near a tree.

Once they got it into the boat, they attempted to weigh it, but the fish’s weight broke the scale. It was far too big for the livewell. So they took photos, tossed the catfish back into the lake and continued bass fishing.

Back on shore, Michael showed off his photos of the flathead catfish.

“My friends said that may be the biggest flathead caught at Sinclair, and one pulled it up on their phone and said the record was 36 pounds,” Michael told WMAZ.

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The record is 36 pounds, 11 ounces. Michael’s catfish was estimated to weigh between 35 and 40 pounds, so it might have broken the lake’s decade-old record.

Michael, whose brother passed away from COVID-19 last summer at the age of 35, said Jonathan was looking down on him. He thanked him for the experience.

“He didn’t help us win a tournament, but he definitely threw a curveball at us,” Michael said.

Added John, “I imagine he was laughing, ‘You want a big fish? Well, here you go.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQsEJqZecAU

Photo courtesy of Michael Cuppett.

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That was no snag; angler lands record flathead catfish

A Maryland angler has become the state’s first record holder for flathead catfish.

Joshua Dixon of Elkton had set out to catch walleye on the Susquehanna River on Dec. 27, but the only takers were flathead catfish.

When the record flathead struck, Dixon thought he had become snagged initially, because there was no movement.

“It was really weird because I thought I snagged a tree,” Dixon stated in a news release issued Wednesday by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. “It didn’t feel like a fish, but after a while it was going crazy.”

The fish measured 50 inches and weighed 57 pounds, qualifying for a vacant record in the state’s invasive species category. The MDNR had set 40 pounds as a minimum mark to qualify for a record.

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Dixon, 34, told For The Win Outdoors that he and a friend were casting swimbaits from shore and had caught more than 30 smaller flathead catfish before the giant fish attacked his lure.

He was using a light spinning outfit in swift river conditions, so landing the flathead was a challenge.

“I barely got it in,” he said. “I thought I was going to break the rod, plus I only had 15-pound-test braid [line] and a 12-pound-test fluorocarbon [leader], and the river was in crazy spill conditions.”

On Dec. 30, before the record was approved, Dixon stated on Facebook: “What a way to cap off my personal goal of 300 days of fishing this year. Pending new MD state record. 57#”

The angler donated fillets from his catch to neighborhood friends.

–Images courtesy of Joshua Dixon

Angler makes unexpected catch, and it’s a record by a whisker

In what was called a lifetime fishing achievement, Lavon Nowling landed a state-record flathead catfish in the Yellow River in Florida.

In what was hailed as a lifetime achievement for an angler, Lavon Nowling landed a state-record flathead catfish while fishing the Yellow River in Florida, using live bait to catch a 69.9-pounder.

“I’ve caught some good ones before this fish, but none of them were more than 54 pounds,” Nowling of Santa Rosa County told the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. “I’ve been fishing since I was old enough to hold a pole and have been fishing on the Yellow River as long as I can remember.”

No doubt the flathead catfish, certified by fisheries biologists, will be remembered for a long time by Nowling, whose catch barely beat out the previous record of 69.3 pounds caught by Marvin Griffin in 2019, also in the Yellow River, located in the Florida panhandle.

“I’ve been deep-sea fishing to creek fishing and I never expected to catch a state-record fish,” Nowling said. “I was fishing for channel catfish and can’t believe I caught a huge flathead. I was in the right place at the right time.”

The flathead catfish was taken to the Blackwater Hatchery near Holt where it was weighed on a certified scale. The fish measured 48.5 inches in length with a girth of 38.25 inches.

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“Flathead catfish are a nonnative fish found in many northwest Florida Panhandle river systems,” the FWC stated. “Flatheads prefer long, slow flowing, moderately turbid rivers. Their solitary lifestyle makes them more difficult to catch than other catfish. Adult flathead catfish feed primarily on live fish, crawfish, freshwater clams and mussels.”

On the FWC Facebook page, some commenters wondered why the fisherman didn’t release the fish, but others argued that because it’s non-native and decimating bream and bass stocks, these fish ought to be removed from the river. At any rate, officials from FWC lauded the catch.

“A state-record catch is a once-in-a-lifetime achievement for an angler,” said Jon Fury, FWC’s Director for the Division of Freshwater Fisheries Management. “We are pleased to award this state record to Mr. Nowling.”

Photo courtesy of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Angler lands record catfish, creatively spares its life

A Nebraska angler has shattered the state record for flathead catfish with the catch of an 89-pound behemoth he fought for 45 minutes.

A Nebraska angler has shattered the state record for flathead catfish with the catch last Saturday of an 89-pound behemoth he fought for 45 minutes.

But perhaps as noteworthy are the steps Richard Hagen took to ensure that the fish, reeled from the Missouri River late at night, was not killed.

They included storing the massive flathead in an unplugged deep freezer filled with aerated water and – after Hagen failed to find an aquarium interested in housing the fish – trucking the freezer back to the river so he could release his prized catch back into the river.

“He got me wet when he took off,” Hagen, 61, told the York News-Times. “I said, ‘Goodbye and lead a happy life.’ ’’

Two days passed between the time Hagen caught the flathead he named Brutus, while fishing with his brother near Brownsville, and the time he let it go.

During that period Hagen weighed Brutus on his home scale (88 pounds), found a certified scale at a local business (89 pounds), and contacted the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission so the fish could be inspected. He kept the water-filled freezer in the back of his truck.

On Monday, Daryl Bauer, fisheries outreach program manager for the Game and Parks Commission, blogged that he was skeptical about a potential new record … until he inspected the enormous flathead.

“Looks like our rod & reel state record flathead will now stand at 89 pounds!” Bauer wrote.

As of Friday morning, the record still stood at 80 pounds, for a flathead catfish pulled from Loup Power Canal in 1988. Bauer, however, wrote that he needed time to complete paperwork before making Hagen’s record official.

Bauer told the News-Times that he commended Hagen for releasing the fish after obtaining a weight and capturing images.

“That fuels everyone’s imagination,” Bauer said. “There’s a state record flathead catfish [still] swimming around in there.”

Hagen, who lives in Swanton, used a bluegill as bait and fought the flathead on 50-pound-test monofilament.

Said Matt Seitz, conservation officer for Game and Parks: “That’s the biggest freshwater fish I’ve ever seen up close.”

–Image courtesy of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission

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.

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