Jared Holt of Homedale hoists a 42-inch flathead catfish caught from the Snake River before releasing it to earn a new catch/release state record.
Congratulations to Jared Holt on reeling in a new record flathead catfish. Jared was fishing the Snake River in Owyhee County on Sept. 6 when he landed the 42-inch long monster catfish. His new record beats the previous flathead catfish record held by Scott Turner (38.5 inches in 2018) by an impressive 3.5 inches!
Idaho has several species of catfish, the most common of which are channel catfish, brown bullhead and black bullhead. While these species are commonly found across Idaho, flathead catfish are found only in the Snake River, mostly in Brownlee Reservoir and upstream of it.
Brownlee Reservoir produced the largest certified weight record flathead catfish in 1994, and weighed in at 58.5 lbs (48 inches long!). Flathead catfish are predators of other smaller fish, often hunting at night. Catch/release records began in 2016 and are based on total length of the fish. The program has become popular with anglers and allows anglers to be recognized for landing trophy fish without having to harvest them.
Learn more about catch/release and certified weight state records.