A state-record flathead catfish was pulled from the Susquehanna River, near the Muddy Creek public access area in York County, on April 6. The catfish, weighing 50 pounds 7 ounces, was caught by Jeff Bonawitz, of East Lampeter Township, Lancaster County.
After taking some initial measurements in his boat, Bonawitz suspected the fish could be a contender for the state record, which had been previously set in 2006 when a 48-pound, 6-ounce flathead catfish was caught in Blue Marsh Spillway in Berks County.
Unable to immediately locate an operational certified scale on which to weigh the fish, Bonawitz kept the fish alive in an aerated container at his home until the following day. On April 7, the fish was officially weighed at Columbia Bait and Tackle located in Lancaster County, where it tipped the scales at 50 pounds, 7 ounces, unofficially setting a new state record for the species.
As is required for state record consideration, Bonawitz contacted Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission law enforcement officials and arranged for an in-person identification and examination of the fish. Waterways Conservation Officer Jeffrey Schmidt conducted the inspection and verified the weight.
A completed state record fish application, including color photographs, was reviewed by commission officials and confirmed.
State record fish are judged only by weight and must exceed the previous state record by at least 2 ounces.
After weighing the fish, Bonawitz and his nephew, Dylan, 8, released the flathead catfish alive back to the Susquehanna River beneath the Wrightsville Bridge.
“It was such an amazing fish,” he said. “I thought the best thing to do was put it back so that maybe the next guy could catch it. I have a feeling this record may not last very long.”
A fisheries survey crew from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources on August 30, 2018, pulled a 56.5-pound, 44-inch flathead catfish from a hoop net in the Susquehanna River less than a mile downriver of the Pennsylvania-Maryland state line.
In addition to being the largest catfish ever caught in the river, that flathead also was heavier than the largest record in the books maintained by the commission, which ranks angler record by the weight of the fish. That was a muskellunge weighing 54 pounds 3 ounces caught in 1924 in Conneaut Lake in Crawford County by Lewis Walker Jr., of Meadville.
Another state record set this year came on May 11 for angler Keith Miller, 73, of Cranberry Township, Venango County. He joined friends with God’s Grace Sport Fishing, a charter company, for a scouting trip for the upcoming summer fishing season on Lake Erie. Departing from the North East Marina in Erie County, Miller along with Captain Lane Brown and first mate Tom Thompson ventured 2-2.5 miles off shore, fishing in an area known as “The Mountain.”
At around 4:30pm, the boat was trolling above 55 feet of water when a fish struck on an Orange Crush UV Copper colored Michigan Stinger spoon on 30-pound braided line.
"I could tell it was a lot bigger than the ones we'd been catching," recalled Miller, who said the crew had already boated several lake trout in the 14-pound range earlier that day. "At first it was like dead weight, but then the fish started taking quite a bit of line and put up a really great fight."
After a 15-minute tug of war, Miller said, the large lake trout appeared at the surface of the water and the crew immediately suspected it could be a state record contender.
Upon boating the fish, a preliminary weight taken using a handheld scale indicated the lake trout was approximately 31 pounds. If accurate, Miller's catch was heavier than the previous state record lake trout weight of 29-pounds, 4-ounces, also caught in Lake Erie in 2012 by an angler from Nazareth, Northampton County.
The crew immediately pulled its remaining lines from the water and headed back to shore. The fish was transported to Poor Richard's Bait and Tackle in Fairview, where a certified scale is located. At 6:40 p.m. a weigh-in was conducted under the supervision of Waterways Conservation Officer Matthew Visosky, where the lake trout tipped the scales at 31 pounds 13 ounces, exceeding the previous record by 2 pounds 9 ounces. Miller’s fish measured 40-inches in length with a girth of 24.25-inches.
Upon weighing the lake trout, Miller turned the fish over to staff at Poor Richard's to be preserved in a freezer so that it can eventually be accurately replicated and mounted for display at the business.
"I live alone," said Miller. "If I put it at my house, nobody would ever see it and all it would do is collect dust. I also think records are made to be broken and this might not last very long. I suspect there are other lake trout in Lake Erie that would enjoy mine for a snack."
No other records have been set in the past few years, but here’s the full list of biggest fish caught in Pennsylvania, maintained by the commission:
Largemouth bass
Donald Shade, Waynesboro
11 pounds 3 ounces
Birch Run Reservoir, Adams County
1983
Rock bass
David Weber, Lake City
3 pounds 2 ounces
Elk Creek, Erie County
1971
Smallmouth bass
Robert Steelman, Havertown
8 pounds 8 ounces
Scotts Run Lake, Berks County
1997
Striped bass - inland
Robert Price, Huntingdon
53 pounds 12 ounces
Raystown Lake, Huntingdon County
1994
Striped bass - marine
Donald Clark, Boothwyn
53 pounds 13 ounces
Delaware River, Delaware County
1989
White bass
Robert Hornstrom, Meadville
4 pounds 0 ounces
Conneaut Lake, Crawford County
2002
Bluegill
Tom Twincheck, Blairsville
2 pounds 9 ounces
Keystone Lake, Armstrong County
1983
Carp
George Brown, Saltillo
52 pounds
Juniata River, Huntingdon County
1962
Bullhead catfish
Ian Radle, Palmerton
4 pounds 10 ounces
Beltzville Lake, Carbon County
2011
Channel catfish
Austin Roth III, Bowmanstown
35 pounds 3 ounces
Lehigh Canal, Northampton County
1991
Flathead catfish
Jeff Bonawitz, Lancaster
50 pounds 7 ounces
Susquehanna River, Lancaster County
2019
Crappie
Richard Pino, Covington
4 pounds 3 ounces
Hammond Lake, Tioga County
2000
Freshwater drum (sheepshead)
Tim Rogers, Finleyville
19 pounds 14 ounces
Monongahela River, Washington County
1994
Muskellunge
Lewis Walker Jr., Meadville
54 pounds 3 ounces
Conneaut Lake, Crawford County
1924
White perch
James Clark, Philadelphia
1 pounds 12 ounces
Delaware River, Delaware County
2008
Yellow perch
Brian Clark, Edinboro
2 pounds 14 ounces
Presque Isle Bay, Erie County
2016
Chain pickerel
Dave Wilson, Honesdale
8 pounds 15 ounces
Long Pond, Wayne County
2002
Northern pike
Carl Stoltz, Bradford
35 pounds
Allegheny Reservoir, McKean County
2003
Atlantic salmon (landlocked lake)
Brian Keller, Altoona
17 pounds 2 ounces
Raystown Lake, Huntingdon County
2001
Chinook salmon
Gregory Lasko, Erie
28 pounds 15 ounces
Lake Erie, Erie County
1990
Coho salmon
Jack Scheirer, McMurry
15 pounds 5 ounces
Lake Erie, Erie County
1985
Pink salmon
David Rabatin
4 pounds 8 ounces
Elk Creek, Erie County
1995
Sauger
Tim Waltz, Williamsport
4 pounds
Susquehanna River, Lycoming County
2001
American shad
Anthony Mecca, Peckville
9 pounds 9 ounces
Delaware River, Pike County
1986
Sucker
Raymond Szalewicz, Titusville
12 pounds 14 ounces
Allegheny River, Forest County
2003
Brook trout
Vonada Ranck, Watsontown
7 pounds
Fishing Creek, Clinton County
1996
Brown trout
Fazle Buljubasic, Erie
19 pounds 10 ounces
Walnut Creek, Erie County
2000
Golden rainbow trout
Eli Borger, Palmerton
13 pounds 8 ounces
Mahoning Creek, Schuylkill County
2008
Lake trout
Keith Miller, Cranberry
31 pounds 13 ounces
Lake Erie, Erie County
2019
Rainbow trout
Dennis Clouse, Bethlehem
15 pounds 6 ounces
Jordan Creek, Lehigh County
1986
Steelhead
Corey Brown, Osterburg
20 pounds 3 ounces
Walnut Creek, Erie County
2001
Walleye
Mike Holly, Bradford
17 pounds 9 ounces
Allegheny Reservoir, Warren County
1980