Keith Lusher 05.15.24
What do you do during the rainy season in Ohio? You catch a state-record blue catfish! That’s what 15-year-old Jaylynn Parker of New Richmond Ohio did while fishing with her father, Chuck Parker. The father and daughter team were checking jug lines in a creek that is connected to the Ohio River. When the river overruns the banks these tributaries are known for producing catfish. “It’s a great way to make the best of a bad situation,” said Chuck. The Parkers set numerous lines out in the creek. The lines comprised of 200-pound test baited with skipjack. A simple Clorox bleach jug served as the float. The line is run through the handle of the jug where the Parkers then tie the end of the line to a nearby overhanging tree branch that serves as an anchor if any fish try and swim off with the jug.
After spotting the jug bobbing in the water, Jaylynn grabbed it and started pulling, but didn’t expect to be almost pulled overboard. Her father and his friend Jeff Sams quickly helped out by reaching down and lifting the fish into the boat. “There’s no way I could have gotten him in the boat by myself,” she said. “I’m only about ten pounds bigger than him.”
After the fish was lying on the floorboard of the boat, reality hit. “I couldn’t stop screaming,” Parker said. “I really didn’t think he was going to be that big. I was so surprised.” After getting the fish to land the family immediately called the Ohio Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to have it officially weighed and measured. The monstrous catfish measured 56 inches long with a 39-inch girth. It topped the scale at 101.11 pounds which is 5 pounds heavier than Chris Rolph’s 96-pound blue taken from the Ohio River in 2009.
