Rules Protect the Integrity of State Record Fish

 

The scrutiny of qualifying a fish as a new state record is serious business.  One of the key components of registering a record fish is complete assurance the fish was caught legally.   A very disappointed Kentucky man learned the hard way recently.

The West Virginia DNR is in the process of reestablishing and redeveloping the population of blue catfish in the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers.    District Fisheries Biologist Zack Brown tells me as those fish continue to grow he expects the record for blue catfish will be broken several times over the next few years.    An angler recently caught what would have been the new record from the Ohio River, but will not be recognized for the accomplishment.

The big catfish was caught back in the spring in the tail waters of the Robert C. Byrd Lock and Dam.   The man called the West Virginia DNR believing he had a new state record fish.  Brown dutifully showed up at the river with his equipment in hand and certified it was in fact large enough to best the old mark.  

However, there was a snag.  It was an entanglement which would ultimately leave the unfortunate angler with no record and no fish.   It turns out the fisherman, who’s from the state of Kentucky, had a non-resident Ohio fishing license.  

The Ohio River is considered within the boundaries of West Virginia–the state line is the Ohio shoreline.   Some argue it’s the original shoreline, which would put the official boundary 10 to 20 yards off the Ohio shore since the lock and dam systems didn’t exist back when the official documents were drawn up in the 1700’s.  However, that’s never been challenged or settled in court, therefore the Ohio shoreline is where West Virginia ends and Ohio begins. 

West Virginia and Ohio have a reciprocating agreement on fishing license in the waterway.  A resident license from either state is considered legal to fish the waters and tributaries.  However, the angler in question had a NON-resident license and wasn’t legally authorized to fish West Virginia waters.    It gets better.  The fisherman caught the big blue catfish from a boat.  If he had been standing on the Ohio shore when he caught the fish, it would have been a record since he was legally authorized to fish "in Ohio."  

The fish was confiscated and released back into the river.   Although he could have been cited, the angler wasn’t given a ticket since there was no Natural Resources Police Officer around to write one.   It’s probably a judgment call as to whether he should have been cited anyway.  He left the river empty handed and stripped of what he thought would be a record.    A ticket would seem to add insult to injury. 

I recall a similar situation several years ago on the North Branch of the Potomac.  An angler caught what he believed was a state record trout for West Virginia–but the fish didn’t measure up to Maryland record.  Although there’s a similar reciprocating agreement between Maryland and West Virginia on license, the river is actually in Maryland. Therefore the fish wasn’t caught in West Virginia and couldn’t be considered a West Virginia state record fish.

Sure it sounds like splitting hairs, but the rules are the rules. Complicated and convoluted as they may be they are the standards.   State records require great integrity. Failing to follow laws to the letter casts doubt on the legitimacy of the record fish program.  It was right not to recognize either of those as state record fish.