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.