Flathead catfish are considered invasive in Maryland waters, but that didn’t dampen the excitement when angler Joshua Dixon hooked into a 57-pound flathead while fishing the Susquehanna River. Maryland DNR certified Dixon’s 50-inch-long catch as the state’s first state record for flathead catfish.
Dixon wasn’t even targeting catfish while fishing from shore on the lower end of the Susquehanna, northeast of Baltimore. The big cat thumped a soft-plastic swimbait in the tailrace below Conowingo Dam.
“It was really weird because I thought I snagged a tree,” Dixon said. “It didn’t feel like a fish, but after a while, it was going crazy.”
Flathead catfish are one of three invasive species Maryland recently began accepting to the record books. The other two are northern snakehead and blue catfish. Maryland DNR hopes anglers will begin targeting these highly aggressive species to thin them out and protect native fish.