FishRook
The giant 52-inch flathead catfish Jeff Pierce caught, measured, photographed, and released on Oct. 17 from Michigan’s lower Saginaw River is six inches longer than the standing Michigan flathead record. The current state-record flathead measured 46 inches and weighed 52-pounds, and Pierce believes his fish was considerably heavier.
“I lift 50-pound feed sacks all the time, and that flathead catfish was much heavier, I’d estimate it at 60 pounds,” says the 50-year old angler from Hope, Michigan. “I’ve now caught three flathead cats from that same stretch of river that were longer than the current state record. One flathead I caught last fall was 50 inches. Another last August was just over 48 inches. Both were released, and were likely state records, too.”
He fishes the lower few miles of the Saginaw River near where it flows into Saginaw Bay off Lake Huron. It’s an area where he’s caught 20 to 25 big flatheads this year, with many fish in the 30-…
