Keith Lusher 05.15.24
What do you do in the course of the wet season in Ohio? You catch a state-record blue catfish! That’s what 15-year-old Jaylynn Parker of New Richmond Ohio did whereas fishing together with her father, Chuck Parker. The daddy and daughter group have been checking jug traces in a creek that’s linked to the Ohio River. When the river overruns the banks these tributaries are recognized for producing catfish. “It’s an effective way to make one of the best of a nasty scenario,” stated Chuck. The Parkers set quite a few traces out within the creek. The traces comprised of 200-pound take a look at baited with skipjack. A easy Clorox bleach jug served because the float. The road is run by the deal with of the jug the place the Parkers then tie the tip of the road to a close-by overhanging tree department that serves as an anchor if any fish attempt to swim off with the jug.
After recognizing the jug bobbing within the water, Jaylynn grabbed it and began pulling, however didn’t anticipate to be nearly pulled overboard. Her father and his buddy Jeff Sams rapidly helped out by reaching down and lifting the fish into the boat. “There’s no approach I might have gotten him within the boat on my own,” she stated. “I’m solely about ten kilos larger than him.”
After the fish was mendacity on the floorboard of the boat, actuality hit. “I couldn’t cease screaming,” Parker stated. “I actually didn’t assume he was going to be that massive. I used to be so shocked.” After getting the fish to land the household instantly known as the Ohio Division of Wildlife and Fisheries to have it formally weighed and measured. The monstrous catfish measured 56 inches lengthy with a 39-inch girth. It topped the size at 101.11 kilos which is 5 kilos heavier than Chris Rolph’s 96-pound blue taken from the Ohio River in 2009.
