February 20, 2002
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has certified a recent
chain pickerel catch by a Pennsylvania angler as new
state record.
An 8-pound, 14.8-ounce pickerel taken by ice fisherman Dave Wilson of
Honesdale breaks an old record.
The former mark of 8 pounds dates back to a 1937 catch from Shohola
Falls, Pike County. The pickerel record had been the second-oldest of
the official Pennsylvania state records. A 54-pound, 3-ounce musky
landed in 1924 has the distinction of being the oldest state record
catch.
Wilson hooked his record-smashing catch January 17 while ice fishing
using a tip-up baited with a minnow at the Commission Long Pond lake
in Wayne County. The fish measured 30 inches long.
To be considered for state record certification, a fish must be
caught using legal means, in season, from Pennsylvania waters open to
the public without charge or fee. Fish taken from farm ponds,
fee-fishing lakes, ponds or streams or in waters restricted to use by
club members or their guests do not qualify. Potential record fish
must exceed the established benchmark by at least one ounce, as
weighed on a certified scale. The fish must be examined by a
Commission biologist or Waterways Conservation Officer.
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