On Sunday, April 7th, a 15-year-old girl from New Richmond, Ohio, may have broken the Ohio state record for the biggest blue catfish. The monster weighed in at 101.11 lbs.
Jaylynn Parker is a sophomore at New Richmond High School. She said, “He was larger than we imagined.”
Parker and her family set up juglines in a stream off the Ohio River at 8 pm the night before their big catch.
The method of fishing called jug fishing involves using lines suspended in jugs that float on water to catch fish.
To fix the position of the jug, weights can also be added to the fishing line.
They are usually set out just before sunset and then checked the following morning.
Parker continued, “Then we arrive at the church around 2 pm on Sunday.” It was a fairly normal day.
Parker and Jeff Sam, a friend of the family, got in a boat to check out the lines.
She said, “We went out to check on one and it was probably between 10 and 5 pounds.” “We threw back.”
They moved on to the next jug where another fish was waiting.
Parker said, “I pulled on him and noticed that he was pulling pretty hard.”
I thought, “This is a good fish.”
Parker stated that the fish was wrapped up in debris. She continued, “I was trying to unwrap all the debris from our line and he was pulling hard.” He yanked my jug from my hand. I said to Jeff, “Get ready. I lifted him, and we thought, ‘This fish is big.'”
Sam leaped over the side to try and net the giant, but almost capsized the boat.
She said, “The fish started to fight again and pulled hard. She noted that the adrenaline was “really moving”. I wanted to lift him and was afraid he would run away.
She said that she gave the fish an excellent pull and he rolled to his side.
Parker said, “I began screaming and yelling ‘Net the Fish, Net the Fish’.”
After that, everything was a blur. It was crazy.
Sam caught the fish, and his friends started bringing him back to the shore.
She said, “We still had the net in the water and I don’t think we could have gotten him into the boat.” “He would have flipped the boat over if we had tried to get him in.”
Sam’s son and Chuck and Kristen Parker helped Sam and Parker get their son onto the dock.
She said, “They all grabbed their nets and pulled him onto the dock.” They were saying, “This is a big fish.” This might be the state record fish.
They realized that they had forgotten their scales. They called the Ohio Division of Wildlife.
Parker explained that the game wardens had arrived after an hour. It was Sunday. We needed it to be weighed on an audit scale to be certified. But nothing was open with an auditor’s weighing scale. They searched for hours to find a place with a scale.
The adventure continued until Parker confirmed the weight of the catfish.
She said, “The game wardens informed us that we could bring him home.” We have a large tank, so we put him there until the next day when we went to Bethel Feed & Supply to weigh him. My dad checked on him every hour. He was in the tank all night.
The scales read more than 100 pounds when the family weighed the catch.
Parker stated, “I was surprised.” “I was surprised but super excited.”
Logan Oates confirmed the catch details with the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s communications coordinator, Logan Oates.
Oates stated that “District LE staff was contacted by an angler on Sunday, April 7th who reported a possible record-breaking catch of blue catfish.”
The fish was caught just upstream of the Ohio River, in New Richmond in Clermont County. The certified weight was 102.11 pounds.”
The Outdoor Writers of Ohio State Record Fish Committee is the official certifying body.
Chris Rolph caught the current record in 2009, which was also confirmed by Oates. It is 96 pounds. The world record for blue catfish is a 143-pound fish measuring nearly 57 inches, which was caught in John H. Kerr-Buggs Island Lake near Clarksville, Virginia.
“Very, very healthy”
Parker wanted to release his fish into his waters as soon as possible after the weigh-in.
Parker stated, “It made me very happy to see the fish swim away, knowing that he was very well taken care of and that he was released very, very healthily.”
“I was so happy that we managed to save him and let him go back to where he came from.”
The Parkers were told by the game wardens that they could keep the fish in a tank at home, but they wanted him returned to the Ohio River.
“Jaylynn was insistent and we agreed, as this could be a state record,” said Kristen Parker.
“As large as this fish may be, it could be a prolific breeder. He’s at least 30 years of age. We weren’t going to put him into our lake, because we knew he needed to be in the River.
The family is waiting for official confirmation. However, there is some controversy over the way the fish was caught.
Kristen Parker stated that “in Ohio, there is nothing to separate different categories of fishing”.
It’s called an “all tackle” category. So, if you catch fish with a rod and a reel, or by using a limb, trot, or jugline, they are all included in the same category.
Ohio’s state law considers this a legal catch, but not all fishermen agree.
Kristen Parker stated that “there are many people who don’t believe that trotline, jug, and other fishing methods [are] fishing.” They think that it must be caught using a rod-and-reel. According to the state, this is not true. We’ve had to deal with some negativity and backlash. It’s not our responsibility. “That’s the rule of state.”
The mom said that her daughter is taking everything in stride.
She said, “This girl always looks great with her hair and makeup.”
“But she’ll do anything to be outside. Jaylynn enjoys spelunking and cave exploration. We go hiking a lot and she hunts with her father and uncles. She loves the outdoors.”
Jaylynn Parker says she possesses these qualities naturally.
She said, “My parents both grew up fishing. I guess it was destined that I would become a little girl who loves fishing.”
“I’ve always been a fan of it, ever since I was a child.” “Some kids don’t like to get dirty, touch fish, or sit for long periods,” she said.
It’s relaxing to be outside and enjoy nature. You never know what you will catch.
