Make that big cat fishing:
Jerry Fijal of Erie shows off a channel catfish he caught on a salted minnow Oct. 4 from the South Pier. The fish weighed 19 pounds 12 ounces, was 32 inches long and had and a girth of 21 inches.
You can upload your trophy photos anytime to the Hunting and Fishing gallery at www.GoErie.com/yourphotos.
Kaitlyn Brawn, 6 1/2, of Erie, caught a whopper of a catfish Aug. 19 while fishing with her dad on Lake Erie. Her citation fish bit on a minnow, weighed 6 pounds 4 ounces and was 24 inches long.
Dorian Tomlin, of Erie, reeled in a mess of catfish as well as a couple rock bass while fishing from the South Pier June 16.
This week’s Erie-area fishing report from Randy Leighton, deputy waterways conservation officer for the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission:
This week’s Erie-area fishing report from Randy Leighton, deputy waterways conservation officer for the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission:
The National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame this week recognized Roger Hellen’s massive Lake Michigan brown trout as the world record.
The International Game Fish Association is considering the fish for its record books. What the IGFA has to say:
“Less than a year ago Michigan’s Tom Healy made headlines in the fishing world by catching a new IGFA world record brown trout weighing 41 pounds 7 ounces. And this past July 16, Roger Hellen of Franksville, Wis., stirred a great deal of talk after landing an equally big brown trout weighing 41 pounds 8 ounces. Hellen was fishing Lake Michigan, off the Wisconsin coastline, trolling a Fishlander spoon when the monster hit it, taking him 30 minutes to land. Though Hellen’s fish is one ounce heavier than the current all-tackle record set by Healy on Sept. 8, 2009, according to IGFA World Record requirements, to replace a record fish weighing (25 lbs) or more, the replacement must weigh at least one half of 1 percent more than the existing record. Bottom line, Healy and Hellen might be sharing an IGFA World Record tie for their two fish.”
One other angler also is waiting for an IGFA ruling.
IGFA: “A huge blue catfish was Greg Bernal’s goal on June 20 while fishing the Missouri River, out of North County, Mo., and he indeed landed one, with an impressive 130-pound specimen. The monster catfish that Bernal, of Florissant, Mo., caught qualifies for a new IGFA all-tackle record. It took him 20 minutes to land using an Asian carp to entice the catfish. The current record is 124 pounds, caught five years ago by Timothy Pruitt from the Mississippi River near Alton, Ill.”
This week’s western Erie County fishing report from Randy Leighton, deputy waterways conservation officer for the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission:
Lake Erie and environs fishing reports from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and the Division of Wildlife of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources:
