While bowfishing recently in Monroe County, Codie Carlson of Newport, Michigan, caught a new state-record flathead catfish.
MONROE COUNTY, Mich. (FOX 2) - There's a new record-holder for the biggest flathead catfish ever caught in Michigan, and it weighs more than an average 8-year-old child!
Codie Carlson, from Newport, was bowfishing in Plum Creek last month when he brought in the record-setting catfish.
The backstory:
Carlson said he was bowhunting on Sunday, June 29, the morning when he pulled in the massive flathead catfish.
Weighing 64.46 pounds and measuring 45 inches, the catfish beat the pervious state record by 11 pounds! Lloy Turner from Indiana caught a 53-pounder on the St. Joseph River in Berrien County in 2022.
"I thought I was about to shoot a channel catfish for dinner. Turns out, I guess we do have flathead catfish in these waters." Carlson said.
Codie Carlson was bowfishing Plum Creek in the early-morning hours of Sunday, June 29, when he brought in a new state-record flathead catfish weighing 64.46 pounds.
The catch was verified by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) by John Buszkiewicz, who may have caught the exact fish during a survey in the same location in 2020. Five years ago, it weigh 55 pounds and measured 43 inches.
Michigan's records are recognized only by weight and must exceed the current record on a certified commercial scale that is verified by a DNR fisheries biologist.
The Source: The Michigan Department of Natural Resources provided details and the photos for this fish tale.