PA Angler Breaks Maryland Blue Catfish Record by 13 Pounds

The state of Maryland has a new record blue catfish after a Pennsylvania angler fishing the Potomac River caught a monstrous 80lb. fish that destroyed the old record by 13 pounds.

From this release from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources:

Shawn Wetzel, 27 of Orrtana, Pennsylvania, caught a whopping 80-pound, 12-ounce blue catfish on February 23 in the Potomac River near Fort Washington. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) confirmed that the blue catfish was a new State record, annihilating the previous record holder by 13 pounds. “The rod went down hard, and I knew it was something big,” said Wetzell. “At one point, I was on my knees trying to lift the fish, and my back was burning.”

The previous record fish weighed just over 67 pounds and was caught in 2008 by Ron Lewis in the Potomac not far from where Wetzel caught his fish. Blue catfish are native to the Mississippi River Valley and were introduced to the James and Rappahannock Rivers in the 1970s. Since then, the fish have reproduced and spread throughout the tidal Potomac River system. Flathead catfish, another non-native invasive species, and blue catfish have subsequently turned up in the Nanticoke, Susquehanna and Northeast Rivers, Upper Chesapeake Bay and other waters.

Congratulations to Shawn Wetzel, but what did he catch it on?