Man earns first-ever Maryland state fishing record for invasive flathead catfish
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ELKTON, Md. (WJZ) A Cecil County man earned the first-ever state record for the invasive flathead catfish, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
Joshua Dixon caught a 57-pound, 50-inch long flathead catfish, or Pylodictis olivaris, on Dec. 27, 2020 while he was fishing near the Lapidum Boat Ramp on the Susquehanna River.
According to DNR, the 34-year-old angler was fishing from the shore with a Zoom plastic swimbait. It took nearly 30 minutes to pull out the fish.
“It was really weird because I thought I snagged a tree,” Dixon said. “It didn’t feel like a fish but after a while, it was going crazy.”
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has recognized Dixon as the first state record holder for the invasive catfish.
Dixon was fishing from the shore with Zoom plastic swimbait, using only medium-weight swimming tackle. It took him about 30 minutes to get the flathead catfish, an invasive species, out of the water. It was really weird because I thought I snagged a tree, Dixon told the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. It didn’t feel like a fish but after a while, it was going crazy.
The Pennsylvania mark for the Susquehanna River was set in April 2019 by Jeff Bonawitz, who caught a 50-pound, 7-ounce flathead catfish near the Muddy Creek public access area in York County.
A Maryland angler became the first person to set a record for catching an invasive species of fish. While the fish was caught late in December of last year, the record wasn’t officially announced until just recently. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources confirmed in a press release on its website that 34-year-old Joshua Dixon has been named as the state’s first-ever record holder for catching a large flathead catfish. (Maryland Department of Natural Resources)
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources confirmed in a press release on its website that 34-year-old Joshua Dixon has been named as the state’s first-ever record holder for catching a large flathead catfish. The angler caught the record-making fish while fishing from shore at the Susquehanna River near the Lapidum Boat Ramp.
Maryland man s 57-pound flathead catfish breaks state record
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Joshua Dixon, 34, of Cecil County, Md., broke a state record when he landed a 57-pound flathead catfish in the Susquehanna River. Photo courtesy of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Jan. 7 (UPI) A Maryland man spent nearly 30 minutes reeling in a massive 57-pound flathead catfish that the Maryland Department of Natural Resources confirmed is a new state record.
The department said Joshua Dixon, 34, of Cecil County, was fishing from shore near the Lapidum Boat Ramp on the Susquehanna River when he hooked something that he initially didn t believe was a fish at all.
New top river monster pulled from Susquehanna River PennLive.com 1/7/2021 Marcus Schneck, pennlive.com
The upper limit for a giant fish in the Susquehanna River has been bumped up once again by the latest record flathead catfish to be pulled from the river by an angler.
A 57-pound, 50-inch-long flathead has been certified as the first-ever state record for the invasive, predatory species by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
That tops a 50-pound 7-ounce catfish caught in the river near the Muddy Creek public access in York County on April 6, 2019, that held the Pennsylvania state record for more than a year.