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Sportsman Outdoors

New NY record catfish!

Jack Danchak
Posted 6/17/22

Bailey Williams of Watertown, NY fishing on the Black River at Dexter Marsh in Jefferson County while kayak fishing caught a channel catfish on May 8th. He was bottom fishing using white perch as cut …

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Sportsman Outdoors

New NY record catfish!

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Bailey Williams of Watertown, NY fishing on the Black River at Dexter Marsh in Jefferson County while kayak fishing caught a channel catfish on May 8th. He was bottom fishing using white perch as cut bait.

Bailey said, "When I hooked it, I could immediately tell it was probably 25-plus pounds since it just felt quite heavy. When I netted it and pulled it into my kayak, I was getting joyfully nervous because it was difficult to pull it up, more difficult than the other huge ones that I caught that night. At this point I figured it was close to 30 pounds."

Bailey placed the fish in his weigh bag and his scale read between 34 and 36 pounds. He knew the previous channel catfish record was in the low 35-pound range. He began yelling to his brother and cousin, "I think I just broke the record, I think I just broke the record."

Bailey then said, "Of course, since I was weighing it on my kayak in 10 mph winds, the weight reading wasn't stable. I knew I had to immediately go to shore, about 200 yards away, to get a stable reading. Once at shore, I weighed it again and according to my scale, it beat the record, initially weighing 35 pounds 8 ounces. I immediately went back to the Dexter boat launch, where I had launched from, and tried calling a couple different DEC numbers but to no avail since it was a Sunday night. That's when I transported the fish to my friend's cottage nearby to keep the fish alive overnight in the water. I used the kayak, filled about one-third with water, to transport the fish."

The next morning, Bailey called DEC who gave instructions to go to the nearest certified scale, which was nearby, and call them back if it beat the record after it was weighed.

Bailey said, "After it was verified on the scale as the new record, I called DEC back and arranged to meet with a Region 6 DEC fisheries biologist where he verified that it was the correct species that I claimed, a channel catfish, I then released it there.

Bailey's catfish officially weighed 35 pounds 12 ounces and measured 40 inches long. The previous record was 35 pounds 3 ounces. Bailey Williams is now in the record book, catching a new state record channel catfish.

Have a Happy Father's Day!

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