Tag: white catfish

Connecticut angler’s catfish record revoked; state issues apology

A Connecticut angler credited with shattering the state’s white catfish record last month has had that recognition withdrawn.

A Connecticut angler credited with shattering the state’s white catfish record last month has had that recognition withdrawn.

Ben Tomkunas caught the 21.3-pound catfish Aug. 20 at Coventry Lake. Days later, the Bureau of Natural Resources declared Tomkunas the new record holder.

“This was a tough one to verify as Channel Cats and White Cats, especially when so large, look very similar,” the agency stated. “[But] with multiple sets of expert eyes, we confirm the new state record.”

Apparently, debate continued as to whether the fish, which was released, might have been improperly identified. On Monday, the Bureau of Natural Resources announced that the decision had been reversed by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

The state record, therefore, still stands at 12.75 pounds.

“Due to questions raised both internally at DEEP and by outside sources, DEEP is recalling its initial declaration of a new state record white catfish caught in Coventry Lake on August 20th,” the Bureau of Natural Resources announced via Facebook. “Without the ability to examine the actual fish, identification is left to still images and videos, which have proven to be ambiguous and inconclusive to definitively identify the species of catfish in this case.

“To maintain the integrity of the state record dataset, we are reversing the initial announcement that this 21.3 pound fish was the new state record White Catfish. We apologize for this error.”

Tomkunas, who was fishing for carp when the catfish struck, said it “ran like a 30-inch striped bass.”

If the fish was, in fact, a white catfish, it was of world-record size. The current all-tackle world record, set in Oakdale, Ca., in 2005, stands at 19 pounds, 5 ounces.

White catfish record has experts baffled, prompts DNA test

An angler who was told he had caught a state-record white catfish now doesn’t know what to think after experts questioned the assessment.

A fisherman in New York who was told he had caught a state-record white catfish now doesn’t know what to think after several experts were left puzzled over the identity of the catfish, prompting them to send the fish in for DNA analysis.

Fishing in the Mohawk River, Chris Brockett of Loudonville landed what was originally thought to be a white catfish, which are relatively rare in New York. The catfish weighed 12 pounds and measured 30.5 inches, New York Upstate reported.

Brian Canzeri, a state conservation officer, witnessed the catfish being weighed on a certified scale and noted it beat the current white catfish record of 10.5 pounds, caught by Joe Silicato in 1998 at New Croton Reservoir in Westchester County.

A State Department of Environmental Conservation fisheries biologist agreed with Canzeri’s assessment, but the next day, another DEC staffer determined that it might be a channel catfish instead, because it had 27 rays on its fins.

From New York Upstate:

Channel catfish get bigger have narrower heads; sharper forked tails, blackish chin barbels (whiskers) – and have 25 to 28 rays, while a white catfish has 22 to 25 rays. The rays are the flexible, fleshy parts of the fin between the spines that control the fin movements.

Brockett’s fish, Canzeri said, had a whitish belly; a wider, bullhead-like head, a shallow fork in its tail – and upon initial glance, a total of 24 rays. In his opinion, it was a white catfish.

Wanting a second opinion, the DEC took the frozen fish to the New York State Museum where two ichthyologists examined it. Neither were able to reach a conclusion after counting the rays six times and coming up with four different numbers.

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It was borderline whether it was a white catfish or channel catfish. So the fish was sent away for DNA analysis, which could take several weeks to complete.

“It’s weird,” Brockett told New York Upstate. “It’s a mess. I just want to know what the hell it is.”

Photos courtesy of Chris Brockett.