A 15-year-old Ohio girl recently smashed a state record when she caught a giant blue catfish weighing over 100 pounds. Jaylynn Parker from New Richmond, Ohio, was fishing on the Ohio River with her father and a family friend when she reeled in the beast of a catfish.
Pictures of the record-breaking catch show an excited Jalynn holding the monstrous fish over her knee, which appears to be nearly as big as her. “It’s official our daughter Jaylynn Parker caught the new OHIO STATE record blue cat !! Had him officially weighed this morning 101.11,” Kristen Powell Parker, Jaylynn’s mother, posted on Facebook.
The girl’s mother thanked her husband and their family friend for assisting with the catch, stating that it would not have been possible to successfully catch the catfish without them due to its sheer size. The post added that the fish was released back into the wild alive and healthy.
“Huge shout out to my husband and his buddy Jeff Sams this would not have been possible without you guys, thank you jeff and chuck for always taking her out fishing doing what she loves to do. He was successfully released back into the Ohio river with very stable health. He should have no troubles in living out the rest of his life back in the wild. Please watch the video all the way to the end,” the message concluded.
“Little did I know that I would have the chance to pull in the fish of a lifetime, weighing in at 101 pounds,” Parker said, speaking to WLWT. She added that she wouldn’t have been able to bring the fish to shore without the assistance of her father and friend, given how heavy it was relative to her own weight. “Obviously, I needed help with the fish since I’m only 117 pounds myself, without Jeff and my dad this wouldn’t have been possible,” she said.
The family friend, Jeff Sams, posted about the record catch on his Facebook page, noting the “jug fishing” technique they employed. “Yesterday ME my friend Chuck Parker and his daughter Jaylynn Parker caught the New all tackle Ohio State record Blue Catfish.4/7/2024 weight was certified at 101.11. The length was 56.5 and girth was 39.5. The fish was released back into the Ohio River. The fish was caught jug fishing, which we love to do during flood waters. It’s a fun way to make the best of a bad situation. This time it payed of in a HUGE way. Just look at the pictures,” he wrote.
Sams foreshadowed the record-breaking fish nearly two years ago when he posted about a personal best catch, which weighed in at over 85 pounds. That catfish was only 10 pounds shy of the state record, which they shattered earlier this month.
“So yesterday was a special day. Started off with a trip to the hospital with my granddaughter for injured fingers, but turned around in the afternoon with my personal best catfish. Chuck Parker and I have been after a record every since we met. Yesterday that almost happened. 85.5 lbs. That is 10 lbs off the state record. We will break the record one day,” he said.
Featured image credit: Kristen Powell Parker / Facebook
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