Eric Scordo of Watertown caught a 35 lb 3 oz, 38.25-inch record-breaking catfish crushing the previous record.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has confirmed a new state record for channel catfish.

Eric Scordo of Watertown was fishing

I didn't realize how big it was until I actually got it in the boat then I looked at my friend and said to him that could be a state record

with a nightcrawler and reeled in a monster weighing  35-pound, 3-ounce, measuring 38 ¼ inches in Lake Ontario in Jefferson County onApril 29, 2017. The fish killed the previous state record caught from Brant Lake (Warren County) in 2002 by nearly 2½ pounds.

Scordo, who owns NNY Catfish Hunter Charters, says " I didn't realize how big it was until I actually got it in the boat then I looked at my friend and said to him that could be a state record."

He knew he had to keep the fish alive until the biologist could confirm the species on Monday. Chaumont Bay Marina allowed him to keep it in one of their bait tanks. Jersey Shore Taxidermy has agreed to do replicas of the fish. The record-breaker has been released back into Lake Ontario.

Scordo, who recently turned 40, says he's been fishing since he could hold a fishing

I hooked a huge fish, as it got toward shore I saw a huge head and long body. It was a monster catfish.

pole and was hooked on catfishing when he was 12. "My parents rented a cottage, and after they had gone to bed, I decided to throw out a cast to see what I could catch. I hooked a huge fish, as it got toward shore I saw a huge head and long body. It was a monster catfish."

The DEC says channel catfish are the largest members of the catfish species that live in New York and can be found statewide. They're bottom feeders that prefer live bait such as worms or baitfish. The larger the catfish, the bigger the challenge for anglers when hooked.


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