FishRook
State Department of Environmental Conservation officials said late last week they are holding off officially recognizing a new state fishing record for a catfish recently caught in the Mohawk River, pending a DNA test.
The fish, caught by Chris Brockett, of Loudonville on Aug. 22 was initially thought to be a white catfish. Brockett caught in the fish from shore on cut bait near Waterford. It weighed 12 pounds and measured 30.5 inches long.
Brian Canzeri, a state conservation officer, witnessed the weighing of Brockett’s fish on an official scale, noting it beat the current white catfish state record of 10.5 pounds. That fish was caught by Joe Silicato in 1998 on the New Croton Reservoir in Westchester County.
White catfish, which are relatively rare in this state, are different from the more common channel catfish in several subtle ways.
Channel catfish get bigger have narrower heads; sharper forked tails, blackish chin barbels (whiskers) – and have 25 to 28 rays, while a white…
