PITTSBURGH, ALLEGHENY CO., (WOLF) — A fishing trip on the Allegheny River ended with a state record for David Taylor Jr., whose 36-pound, 2-ounce channel catfish topped Pennsylvania’s previous mark by 9 ounces.
Taylor, 44, of Munhall, caught the fish the evening of Oct. 3 while fishing in the Tri-State Hawg Hunters tournament with his friend Alex Atkinson of Rillton. They were below the Highland Park Lock and Dam near Sixmile Island.
Taylor initially thought the fish might be a blue catfish. At the tournament weigh-in the next morning, another angler suggested it was a channel catfish. The two species can be distinguished by counting the rays on the fish’s anal fin: channel catfish have fewer than 30, while blue catfish have at least 30. Taylor’s catch had 26.
The fish first weighed in at 36 pounds, 2 ounces at a bait shop in Bridgewater. Because that scale could not print an official weight receipt, Taylor arranged a second weigh-in with Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission Waterways Conservation Officer Abigail Luteri.
At 11:45 a.m. Oct. 4, Luteri witnessed the fish weigh 36 pounds, 2 ounces on a certified scale at Goodman’s Bait and Tackle in Ford City. She provided a written certification for Taylor’s state-record application.
The fish measured 42 inches long, with a 26-inch girth. The previous Pennsylvania channel catfish record was caught in the Lehigh Canal in 1991.
After Luteri inspected the fish, Taylor released it alive into the Allegheny River. The Fish and Boat Commission reviewed and confirmed his application.