Travis Wendt pictured with his Idaho-record (catch and release) smallmouth bass. (Photo courtesy Idaho Game and Fish/Travis Wendt)
May 23, 2022
By Game & Fish Staff
State-record seekers continue to set new fishing standards this spring, including records for channel catfish in New York and smallmouth bass in Idaho set in mid-May, according to the respective state fisheries agencies.
Idaho C&R Smallmouth Bass Idaho Game & Fish said Travis Wendt’s state-record catch-and-release smallmouth bass caught at Dworshak Reservoir on May 10 might have also challenged the state weight record had it been weighed.
Instead, after some quick photos, Wendt quickly released the 23.5-inch smallmouth, which beat a two-year-old length record by three-quarters of an inch.
The fish was just a quarter-inch shorter than the state weight-record fish, which weighed 9.72 pounds (caught 2006, also at Dworshak).
It was also another in a growing line of outstanding smallies taken from Dworshak Reservoir, which has produced the last three weight and last two length state records for smallmouth bass.
Hot Smallies at Dworshak The last three state-record smallmouth bass (by weight) have been caught by these anglers at Dworshak Reservoir in north central Idaho.
Don Schiefelbein, 7.35 pounds (20.75 inches), Sept. 4, 1982 Dan Steigers, 8.3 pounds (22.0 inches), Oct. 14, 1995 Dan Steigers, 9.72 pounds (23.75 inches), Oct. 28, 2006 (current) "A quick review of certified weight records, and you can see that Travis' new 23.5" fish easily competes with some of the heaviest bass recorded from Dworshak Reservoir, and may have been close to the existing weight record," Idaho Game & Fish said.
Read more about smallmouth bass fishing at Dworshak Reservoir
Bailey Williams caught the New York-record 35-pound, 12-ounce channel catfish on May 8. (Photo courtesy of NY DEC) Big NY Channel Cat New York’s first reported fishing record of the year was a huge channel catfish caught May 8 at Black River in Jefferson County.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced the certification of Bailey Williams’ record 35-pound, 12-ounce channel cat. Williams, of Watertown, caught the big fish with cut bait while bottom fishing.
It beat the previous record of 35-3, caught in 2017 out of Lake Ontario. Channel catfish are the largest catfish living in New York.
The all-tackle world-record channel catfish recognized by the International Game Fish Association (caught July 1964 , Santee-Cooper Reservoir, S.C.) weighed an even 58 pounds.
