The Ohio record state record fish list continues to be challenged, as potential record fish are submitted by skilled and/or lucky anglers who legally catch what they feel might be a record buster.
The list is kept by the Outdoor Writers of Ohio and monitored carefully by the organization’s Ohio State Record Fish Committee.
Record fish are measured by weight only and that weight must be determined on a certified accurate scale. They are also determined to be the correct species by trained fishery officials.
And like any record list, each one is subject to change. The only exceptions would be for fish which are no longer found in state waters.
New records
Recent changes on the list are shown below.
– A new Ohio record Buffalo Sucker taken by bowfishing has been certified by the Outdoor Writers of Ohio State Record Fish Committee. The new state record, a Bigmouth Buffalo weighing 43.0 pounds, was shot by Josh Bowmar of Westerville, Ohio, in Hoover Reservoir in Delaware County, Ohio.
Bowmar shot his fish May 21, 2018, using a recurve bow with 150-pound line. Bowmar’s Bigmouth Buffalo is 43.5 inches long and 28-7/8 inches in girth.
His catch replaces the previous state record Buffalo Sucker which was shot in Lake Erie by Brent McGlone on Oct. 11, 2013, weighing 40.80 pounds and measuring 40.5 inches long.
Fisheries biologists Marty Lundquist and Nick Radabaugh from the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s District One office confirmed the identification of Bowmar’s catch as a Bigmouth Buffalo.
– It’s difficult to say who was the all-time youngest Ohio fish state record holder over 70-some years of records, but a new Ohio record Green Sunfish by a 9-year-old angler has been certified by the Outdoor Writers of Ohio State Record Fish Committee.
The new state record Green Sunfish, weighing 1.20 pounds, was caught by SueAnn Newswanger, 9, of Shiloh, Ohio, in a Richland County farm pond.
Newswanger caught the Green Sunfish May 13, 2018, on a spincast rod with a night crawler. Newswanger’s Green Sunfish is 11 inches long and 10.5 inches in girth. Her catch replaces the previous state record Green Sunfish which was caught in a farm pond by Timothy C. Hively on May 8, 2005, weighing 0.99 pounds and measuring 10-5/8 inches long.
Newswanger’s sunfish was officially certified with assistance from fisheries biologist Mike Wilkerson from the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s District Two office.
