Angler Paul Newman of Fruitland, Idaho, was seeking to catch sturgeon when he set out on C.J. Strike Reservoir final Wednesday. As an alternative he caught a brand new catch-and-release state-record channel catfish.
In keeping with Martin Koenig, Idaho’s Pure Useful resource Program Coordinator, Newman’s heavyweight channel cat measured 42.5 inches lengthy. That’s a lot lengthy sufficient to higher the previous catch-and-release file channel catfish of 33 inches, set by Reed Monson at Lake Lowell in 2020.
Earlier than releasing the channel cat, Newman weighed the fish on a hand-held digital scale, which registered 37 kilos. Which means Newman’s fish would have most probably overwhelmed Idaho’s present licensed weight file for channel catfish—a 32.9-pound, 36.5-inch fish that was caught by angler Cody Kastner on June 16. As Koenig identified, that file fish additionally got here out of C.J. Strike Reservoir.
Nevertheless, to earn the general state file title, Newman would have needed to weigh his catfish on licensed scales, which might have meant killing it. It’s doable that he might have stored the fish alive to succeed in a location with licensed scales, after which launched it, however that is all the time a dangerous proposition.
Catfish in Idaho
C.J. Strike Reservoir is a bit off the overwhelmed monitor in southwestern Idaho. The 7,500-acre impoundment on the Snake River south of Boise is filled with fish however not close to many massive cities.
Channel catfish should not native to Idaho, however they’ve thrived within the state after stocking efforts.
Idaho’s fisheries workers reviews that this has been a banner summer season for giant catfish within the state. Along with Newman’s and Kastner’s two record-breaking channel cats, angler Jared Holt of Homedale set a catch-and-release Idaho file for flathead catfish on July 9, 2022 whereas fishing the Snake River. That fish measured 43 inches in size.
