13-Year-Old Sets New Md. State Fishing Record

A young angler has his name in the record books for a catch he made on a Susquehanna tributary last week. And the big-winner fish weighs all of 2 pounds,14 ounces.

13-year-old Maxwell Diegel, of Harford County, caught the record-breaking fallfish on April 19 in Broad Creek on the Susquehanna. He was fishing from shore using corn and worms for bait.

“I knew I had something big when the rod bent in half,” Diegel said. His catch broke the previous state record fallfish of 2 pounds, 7 ounces caught by Adam Aghion in 2019.

Diegel had his fish certified by Conrad’s Crabs and Seafood in Bel Air, and a Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) biologist confirmed the catch: state record holder for fallfish in the nontidal division. After Diegel realized he had a new state record, he “danced around and did a celebration.”

Even better, Conrad’s offered Diegel a summer job at the seafood market.

DNR maintains state records for sport fish in…