The black and white images of him standing next to man-sized catfish created a legend that only visual evidence could verify. The fish was caught in the Ohio River and weighed 104 lb.

Elliot claimed that his near 100-pound catch was a “silver channel catfish.” In a letter published by Field & Stream in 1964, Mike Bell, who ran the magazine’s annual fishing contest, wrote, “The angler thought the fish was a silver channel catfish. Catfish Identification At one point, Groves held both world and state records for blue catfish and channel catfish.

The most widespread of all North American catfish species, the world record channel catfish is in many ways the most surprising of all. Current World Record Channel And Flathead Catfish Photo by lionel parria.

The Argus Leader reported that another grandchild, Geri Rasmussen, was equally disappointed. Roy Groves was one of the greatest catfishermen in history.

They also have a paddle-shaped tailfin and protruding lower jaw, which are unique to flatheads.

“Currently the state record channel catfish doesn’t exist,” Adams said. “The weather is getting warmer and the catfishing is just starting to heat up,” the GFP said in a Facebook post. Bullheads and madtoms don’t garner much attention from anglers, but blue cats, flathead cats and channel cats do. Source: IGFA World Records Database The record for the largest flathead catfish belongs to Ken Paulie, who landed his big flathead over 20 years ago. The blue cat world and state record held for 10 years until it was broken by a fellow South Dakotan with a 97-pound catch. Chris Hull, communications specialist for the GFP, said that this has generated a lot of buzz among anglers. Within 15 years, Groves saw three of his four records fall. She said she couldn’t understand why the state would make a different decision about the fish’s identity 70 years later.

The verdict was unanimous: It was a blue catfish.

Their smeared coloration often has shades of black, brown, tan and yellow.

Our fate hangs by a thread just around this bend. Within 15 years, Groves saw three of his four records fall. Both species share a solid color that falls somewhere on the gradient of light gray to slate blue. “The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks is taking away my great grandfather’s state record because they don’t think by looking at a picture it is a channel catfish. Longstanding Controversy While being trophy catches for their class, these catches don’t garner as much attention as those we’ve already covered.

Blue catfish are often misidentified as channel catfish. And in the last few years it just became overwhelming.”. The biggest difference is that blue cats can weigh over 100 pounds, but channel cats rarely hit the 30-pound mark. The IGFA all-tackle world record was caught by W.H.

long and weigh 5 lbs. Cody Sechser, left, and Isaac Kipp hold the world record channel catfish they claimed while bow fishing on the West Branch of Skunk Creek north of Hartford June 9. The only foolproof way to tell the difference is by looking at the anal fin. “I just think it was handled very poorly,” she said. Flatheads are the easiest of the species to identify.

Its skin is dark colored with a light abdomen. This distinction actually belongs to the blue catfish, while channel catfish have a shorter, rounded anal fin.”.

Geno Adams, fisheries program administrator for the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks, has been on the receiving end of those emails and phone calls for the last 10 years. or so. “Although the James River still churns out big catfish to this day, it never has and never will produce channel cats of this size,” I wrote. lists as the all-tackle world record a 58-pound channel catfish caught in South Carolina in 1964.

Not everyone is as enthusiastic about Catrush, though. Identification.

On a blue catfish, the anal fin will be straight and have 30-36 rays.

On a channel catfish, the anal fin will be curved and have 24-29 rays. Adams decided to take action and reached out to a group of fish biologists and professors to get their thoughts. If the limb-line is taut, we’ll dine on fresh... Catfish are what not exactly selective when it comes to their diet. All that was left was his state record channel catfish. The largest individuals reach about 40 lbs. The catfish was pulled in on June 5, 2015 on the Potomac River. I would think he would know the difference!” James Labesky posted on Facebook. “We’ve had many parents tell us it’s been a great motivator for getting kids out fishing. Unless the GFP revokes this 68-year record, it’ll never be dethroned.”. Their weights can exceed 100 pounds.

And for this reason, the information will be briefer.

letter published by Field & Stream in 1964. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has confirmed that an angler set a new record after catching a catfish in late May. Adams was right. He claimed each in 1949 with a 94-pound blue cat and 55-pound channel cat from the James River in South Dakota. Instead, his catch is just another fisherman’s tale. “Channel cats are found in three-fourths of the state, so a bunch of people are paying attention and participating,” Hull said. In North America, there are about a half dozen species of catfish that are distributed across most of the continent. All that was left was his state record channel catfish.

“Since day one there’s been questions,” Adams said in an interview with the Argus Leader. The removal of the Groves record has received praise from South Dakotans. The record currently sits at 15 pounds and 4 ounces, but it likely won’t stand for long. The channel cat world record held until 1964 when a 58-pounder was caught in South Carolina. For 70 years, South Dakota anglers failed to ever catch a bigger channel cat, even though the blue catfish and flathead catfish records continued to change names over that time. For the sake of comparison, the International Game Fish Assn. The Groves state record channel cat was never bested, making it the oldest record in state history.

In a 2017 article in the Outdoor Forum, I called the record “unbreakable,” but not because the glory days of catfishing in South Dakota are behind us. “There’s just a lot of information that doesn’t line up to make that a channel catfish. The Groves state record channel cat was never bested, making it the oldest record in state history. Reaction With a sense of validation, Adams moved to have the record abolished. The Channel Catfish is one of America’s most popular gamefish. “Our hope is that people target channel catfish and we have the state record broken multiple times in the next few weeks.”. The fish weighed 58-pounds even, an amazing stat given the glaring lack of documented channel cats that have come even within 20 … I’m not the only one who thought the Groves record was a case of mistaken identity. Description of the Channel Catfish. We hope to use this campaign to build some excitement around catfish and show people that they can be fun to catch and great to eat.”. Without them, his 55-pound blue cat could have been a legitimate record that no one could deny. Channel catfish swim in ponds, rivers, lakes, and creeks making them accessible to anglers across the country.

Most adults measure about 20 in. It even happened to Ed Elliot, the fisherman that beat Groves’s world record blue catfish in 1959. This catfish species has an elongated, slightly flattened body. “We feel that, while this is a great fish and a great story, it is time to open the channel catfish category and start fresh,” Adams said. Whaley from Santee-Cooper Reservoir, South Carolina in July of 1964. As you can see from the size of the following listings, blue catfish are much larger when compared to these other catfish species. In a press release, the department announced that the end of the record marked the beginning of Catrush 2019. The family of Groves thinks the department’s action was unwarranted. “He was always so proud of how many hours he spent pulling all those fish in.”. Keen-eyed anglers have been pestering the state to reevaluate the record for a while. The program is designed to make anglers aware of state record and master angler platforms, and promote an abundant and underutilized species of fish. They each have tailfins with deep forks, and dorsal fins and adipose fins with identical placement. “If you look closely at the picture of the record fish,” I wrote in the 2017 article, “you can see it has a long, flat anal fin. Channel catfish are known for their strong sense of smell, spunky attitude, and delicious flavor. Since then, it’s been broken three more times, including twice in one day on May 30. Paulie’s flathead catfish weighed 123 pounds (55.79 kilograms) and was over 5 feet (1.55 meters) in length. The Indiana record for a blue catfish was set in 1999 by Bruce Midkiff. Within just a couple days of the announcement, the first record was set with an 8-pounder. In the end, the very thing that created Groves’s legacy caused it to be rewritten: his photographs. Read on to learn about the Channel Catfish. The channel cat world record held until 1964 when a 58-pounder was caught in South Carolina.

Mr. Elliot accepted that decision, although I think he still was not completely convinced the fish was a blue catfish.”.

The world record muskie is currently living in Minnesota’s Mille Lacs Lake—or so biologists... Our picks for the week’s best hunting, fishing, wild foods, and conservation content. The record-setting catfish was pulled in using a sausage with a circle hook. “I believe this record is a farce, because the fish is actually a blue catfish that was misidentified as a channel cat. His fishing prowess made him famous among fellow river rats in the Great Plains, and grainy photos of him with enormous catfish spread across two decades show why. Unlike the flathead, blue cats and channel cats have a lot of similarities. This regularly trips up anglers who think they caught a giant channel cat, when in reality it’s just a blue. Like many other catfish species, it has soft skin without scales. Big bucks, land management, rut reports, and tips for the whitetail obsessed.