Whether you happen to be an angler or not, there’s a good chance that you’ve heard something about young Jaylynn Parker, a sophomore from New Richmond, Ohio, landing a big catfish. The story netted the attention of a lot of newspaper columnists, blog sites and even USA Today. The fish, hooked on April 7, was a blue catfish that could possibly be a new Ohio state record.
Blue cats, Ictalurus furcatus, are just one of a dozen species found in the family of aquatic cats swimming around Ohio. Besides the blue, the best-known catfish include the channel and flathead catfish and three species of bullhead — all popular sport fish. The other half-dozen are the minnow size madtoms, seldom seen unless you’re looking for them. Even one of those little guys made for some sad news earlier this year when the Scioto madtom was determined to have become extinct.
The predatory blue catfish are the big-boys of the bunch and is the largest native North American catfish. They have the potential to reach lengths of more than 65 inches and a weight of 165 pounds, though those caught typically fall within 25-45 inches and tip the scale between 30-70 pounds.
They’re primarily found in the Mississippi River and Louisiana drainage systems, including the Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee and Arkansas Rivers, the Des Moines River in south-central Iowa, the Rio Grande and south along the Gulf Coast to Belize and Guatemala. They have also become popular for stocking a limited number of suitable lakes with state agencies adding the opportunity outside of the river systems. In Ohio, you can find them in the Ohio River and a short way up its larger tributaries between Portsmouth and Cincinnati.
The Division of Wildlife started stocking yearling and fingerling blues at Hoover Reservoir in 2011. Given the success of the stockings at Hoover, Clendening and Seneca, reservoirs were added to the list of areas receiving annual blue catfish stockings — the fingerlings come from either Hebron or St. Mary’s Fish Hatcheries.
Big cats have spawned special fishing techniques. Most anglers are familiar with rods and reels of some type… but wait, there’s more! There are trotlines, banklines, setlines, jug fishing and floatlines. Here is a brief explanation of each as described by the Division of Wildlife:
Trotline: a fishing line having suspended from it, at frequent intervals, vertical lines with baited hooks attached. Trotlines must be marked with the name and address or customer identification number of the user. Trotlines must be anchored.
A trotline may not be made of wire or cable, and may not be capable of being removed from the water by pulling on the shore end of the line. No more than three trotlines are permitted in any one body of water in the Inland Fishing District.
No more than 50 hooks per trotline are permitted. Trotlines may not be used within 1,000 feet downstream of any dam. All trotlines must be checked once every 24 hours.
Bankline/Setline: a fishing line attached to the bank. Banklines or setlines may be used to catch turtles and fish. The name and address or customer identification number of the user must be attached to each line. The maximum is 50 lines, each having a single hook, not a treble hook.
The lines must be attached to the shore above water, but not to a boat, dam, dock, pier, pole, rod or wall. No more than six banklines or setlines may be used in Ohio’s public waters less than 700 surface acres in size. All lines must be checked once every 24 hours. All lines must be removed after completion of use.
Floatlines/Jug Fishing: A floatline is a fishing line suspended in the water under a float. Floats may not be made of glass or other shatterable material. Floats must bear the name and address or customer identification number of the user. Floats must be freely adrift and be attended by the user at all times.
A floatline may only have one single hook, not a treble hook. It is unlawful to set, use or maintain more than six floatlines in all public waters of the state of Ohio less than 700 surface acres in size.
Back to Jaylynn Parker’s big blue. There was some initial controversy about the method of how she hooked the big fish, some saying she was using a jug line, others a bank line. According to Wildlife Officers, Jaylynn was using a bank line with a jug float, a typical method used throughout the blue catfish’s North American range. It was caught from Twelve Mile Creek, a tributary of the Ohio River in Clermont County on April 7. It weighed a whopping 101.11-pounds as weighed and witnessed on a certified scale.
Jaylynn and her family worked carefully to keep the fish alive and it was examined by three Ohio Wildlife Officers and its species confirmed by a state fisheries biologist. After weighing, lots of pictures and with a nod from the officers, the family released the whiskered denizen back to its deep-river home. They hope it continues to grow and to produce young with its obviously strong genes for growth and survival.
Can they get bigger? The world record blue catfish weighed an incredible 143 pounds and was caught by Richard Nicholas Anderson. It was taken at Kerr Lake in 2011, and area also known as Buggs Island Lake. This Roanoke River reservoir is located on the border between Virginia and North Carolina, and that world record also sits as the Virginia state record.
Following protocol, the information was forwarded to the Outdoor Writers of Ohio, the organization responsible for maintaining and approving all state record fish. I was lucky enough to be at the meeting when they approved Jaylynn and her big blue record at their annual spring meeting on April 27. The previous record was a 96-pound blue caught by Chris Rolph from Williamsburg in the Ohio River on June 11, 2009. That’s a 5.11-pound difference. Quite a record breaker.
Congratulations to Jaylynn Parker on her new Ohio State Record Blue Catfish! To view all of Ohio’s state record fish and for information concerning eligibility requirements, visit www.outdoorwritersofohio.org.
“Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure.”
— Confucius
