56-pound flathead catfish caught in Eastern Pa., setting state record

When Lancaster County angler Jeff Bonawitz, 54, of East Lampeter Township reeled in a state record 50-pound, 7-ounce flathead catfish on the Susquehanna River in April 2019, he said, “I have a feeling this record may not last very long.”

Bonawitz was right. His record ended up lasting a little over a year.

On May 24, angler Jonathan Pierce, 34, of Philadelphia landed a 56-pound, 3-ounce flathead catfish on the Schuylkill River — a new state record. The catch happened at about 8:30 p.m.

“The best way to describe it is like a torpedo,” Pierce told the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, which certified the record. “It just had so much girth to it. When I tried weighing it on my digital scale, the scale malfunctioned.”

The fish measured 50 inches long with a girth of 28.875 inches. Pennsylvania state record fish are judged only by weight, and must exceed the previous record by at least two ounces.

After weighing the fish, Pierce returned the catfish alive to the Schuylkill River.

“I consider it the catch of a lifetime,” Pierce said. “I do think the record will be broken again soon, probably from the Susquehanna River.”

But rivers on the eastern side of the state are not the exclusive domain for monster flathead catfish.

On May 30, just after midnight, Will Carnevale, 18, of Fox Chapel caught one in the low 40s in the Allegheny River, fishing from his family’s weekend home in Allegheny Township. He followed that up two days later, June 1 at around 9 p.m., by catching another flathead catfish he estimated to weigh in the mid 30s. He used blue gill as bait and released them both.

“I don’t know how much bigger these animals can get. I just saw the picture (of Pierce’s record catch) and it’s almost the size of that man,” said Carnevale. “It’s like something out of National Geographic. It amazes me to see fish this big coming out of fresh water in Pennsylvania.”