A flathead catfish weighing 66 pounds has set a new Pennsylvania record after it was caught last month on the Susquehanna River in Lancaster County, according to the state’s Fish and Boat Commission. The catch, made by a fisherman from Franklin County, beat the previous record held by a Philadelphia man who caught a 56-pound flathead catfish in the Schuylkill River in 2020.
The catch was made on May 14 by Michael Wherley, 46, of Fayetteville, in the area of Conestoga, officials said.
Wherley was fishing with a friend around 10 a.m. in an approximately 50-foot-deep channel of the river known as Lake Aldred. He had baited a live rainbow trout onto a large circle hook with a 1.5-ounce sinker and cast a line from his heavy-duty surf rod into the water. Wherley and his friend, Walter “Tommy” Clark, had four lines in the water at once.
Three of the four rods hooked fish simultaneously, Wherley told the Fish & Boat Commission.
“It was a little bit crazy, but we managed to start…