A New York angler fulfilled a lifetime dream by catching a massive channel catfish that toppled the state record by nearly two-and-a-half pounds.
Eric Scordo of Watertown, New York fulfilled a dream last Friday. He caught a beast of a channel catfish that trounced the current standing state record.
"It's a dream for me," said Scordo, who runs NNY Catfish Hunter Charters. "It's what I've always wanted."
By the time of this writing, his catch of a 40-inch, 35-pound, 2.5 ounce channel cat should be confirmed and verified by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. Those numbers easily surpass the current state record of a 32 pound, 12 ounce catfish caught by Chris Dixon in 2002.
Before we get to the rest of this story and Mr. Scordo's statement, check out the awesome video and images of this fish:
[divider]
Scordo caught the fish on a nightcrawler while fishing on the east side of Lake Ontario near the village of Chaumont.
"When they get a sense that they're going to be caught or put in a boat, they'll take right off and run. They are strong, they're like sharks, they'll rip your drag right off your reel," Scordo said. "Until you tire them out, they're a hell of a fish to get in the net."
"I could tell it was a monster," he said.
Once he realized that he might have a record on his hands, Scordo called the DEC but was told that they couldn't send anyone to verify the catch until after the following Monday. So the Chaumont Bay Marina kindly offered Scordo its bait tank to hold the catfish over the weekend.
"The last thing I wanted it to do was die," he said.
The fish, which was estimated to be between 25 and 30 years old was released back into the lake by Scordo after its verification.
Like what you see here? You can read more great articles by David Smith at his facebook page, Stumpjack Outdoors.
NEXT: Angler Receives Death Threats After Catching Record Carp
