Record Bluecat taken 57lbs

New Richmond, Ohio - A Lynchburg, Ohio, man will go down in history as the first to catch a record blue catfish in the state.

Keith Setty, 37, caught the 57-pound, 3.2-ounce fish on June 29 in the Ohio River.

It is the first new fishing record set this year after certification by a committee of the Outdoor Writers of Ohio, the official sport fishing recordkeepers in the state.

The blue catfish was downlisted by the DNR Division of Wildlife late last year from an endangered species to one of special concern (Ohio Outdoor News, Oct. 12, 2007). That downlisting triggered a process by which the blue catfish could be added to Ohio's official state record list. For anglers, the chase was on beginning Jan. 1 with the stipulation that any potential record fish be at least 45 inches.

Setty's blue cat measured 45.5 inches, qualifying it for record status.

Setty, who said he's been fishing the Ohio River fairly seriously for the past five years, was fishing on the night of the record-setter with two buddies, Dusty Thompson and Seth Bailey. The group started fishing about 10 in the evening, immediately below the Meldahlm lock and dam near New Richmond, but the big fish didn't bite until close to 4 a.m.

"Usually, when the sun comes up, we'll stop catfishing and throw on some crankbaits to troll for hybrid striped bass, white bass or sauger," Setty said.

That night, however, Setty and his buddies were fishing 8-foot rods loaded with cut shad on 30-pound line. Four to five ounces of sinkers kept the bait on the bottom.

"It took off running," Setty said of the fateful moment. "I set the hook and it felt big, but it didn't feel that big.

"When we first saw it, all we could see was the front part of its head and it's mouth come of the water," he said. "So, we saw it was fairly big and then it rolled sideways and we could see it had a fairly big belly on it and I started to get a little bit nervous."

For the next couple of days, Setty set about finding a certified scale to weigh the fish. The day after the catch was a Sunday, which made the weighing process difficult, Setty said.

"We looked for probably four or five hours on Sunday to try to get the thing weighed, but we never came up with anything," he said.

Setty's blue catfish wasn't weighed until Monday, about a day and half after the catch. He kept the fish on ice in cool water, but it still likely lost some of its girth by the time it was weighed.

"I don't know how much (weight) it would have lost," he said.

Setty plans to have the record-setter mounted, and said he's still searching for a taxidermist that will do it at a reasonable price.

Setty said it's an honor to be the first blue catfish recordholder and he'll savor the accomplishment for the time being. In the meantime, he's still out catfishing on the river.

"I hate to say it, but I really don't look for this record to stand for too long," he said.

Across the border on the Ohio River in Indiana, Setty said he's heard of fishermen catching 80-pound blue catfish.

"That's not too far of a swim from where we are," he said.

For information about the blue catfish record or any of Ohio's fishing records, contact Tom Cross, chairman Outdoor Writers of Ohio State Record Fish Committee, 1497 Cross Road, Winchester, OH 45697. Phone 937-386-2752 or e-mail him at tomcross@dragonbbs.com. A downloadable application is available online at www.outdoorwritersofohio.org..