RAVENSWOOD, W.Va. — Tyler Harmon of Ravenswood decided last Friday to ask his four year old son Walker if he’d like to go fishing. The answer was an overwhelming “YES!” So the two of them packed up the catfishing boat and headed to the Ravenswood ramp of the Ohio River. Along the way, Tyler called his dad to see if he wanted to come along too. The three of them set out for an evening of fishing, not necessarily expecting a lot of action. But as most anglers will tell you, you never can tell.
“We were anchored up in a spot I’ve fished before and had luck there,” said Tyler. “Originally the plan was to get on some smaller catfish for my son to reel in. That turned out to be a different story.”
That different story is why you’re reading this article. Tyler’s dad picked up a line to reel in and believed it was snagged on the bottom. Tyler took the rod and immediately realized the line was moving upstream. He set the hook and the fight was on.
“It took about 20 minutes to get him in and he put up a pretty good fight,” Tyler explained in an interview for West Virginia Outdoors.
Walker wasn’t sure what to think.
“When it first surfaced he started flipping out and crying because to him it looked like a shark,” said Harmon. “He only weighs about 40 pounds so the fish about doubled him.”
The youngster was a little more settled once the fish was was finally on boar and things started to settle down.
“Once we had him calmed down, he started yelling, ‘Daddy that’s a big fish!’ I said, yeah buddy it is,” Harmon laughed.
The monster fish was one of the legendary blue catfish from the Ohio River. Once he was over the transom, Tyler realized he probably had a new state record. Through a series of phone calls, friends helped him out by bringing a large tub used as a cattle trough and rigged up an aerator to the Ravenswood ramp. A representative of the Division of Natural Resources would not be available to certify the fish until the next day. The wait would require more help. They took the fish to D & D Tackle where Tyler’s buddy Seth Rhodes had a better system to keep the fish alive.
“He had a bigger tank and a better aerator set up,” he said.
The fish spent the night in the bait trough at D & D before it was officially certified the next day by DNR fisheries biologists Ryan Bosserman and Jeff Hansbarger. The fish set a new weight record for the blue catfish at 72.75 pounds. The fish’s length was 48.15 inches, which was short of the length record.
Soon after the certification and a load of pictures, the monster fish was released alive and well back into the waters of the Ohio River to be caught again. It marked the second time this year the blue catfish record has fallen and it was the ninth record fish caught in West Virginia waters in 2026.
On nothing more than a whim, three generations got to share a special experience which will never be forgotten.
“You couldn’t make a better picture. It was a great evening and surprised all of us really,” said Tyler.