Reported by Justin Walts:
Eric Scordo, of Watertown, New York, is a trophy catfish hunter. On April 30, he achieved a long-held dream 
of breaking the New York state record for channel catfish when he boated a massive 35.25-pounder from Lake Ontario’s Chaumont Bay.
Caught on live bait using an Okuma reel paired with an Ugly Stick rod and an Addya hook, the beast smashed the existing record by more than 3 pounds. The previous record, which stood since 2002, weighed 32.12 pounds and was caught from Brant Lake, a 1,300-acre reservoir in the Hudson River drainage.
Scordo is a little bit of a fanatic about catch and release. The philosophy makes sense for someone specializing in large catfish, as it can take these fish decades to grow to state record size. Scordo was determined to release his record fish alive. So after it was weighed on a certified scale at Chaumont Hardware, the fish was taken to Chaumont Bay Marina where assistance was provided in keeping the fish alive and healthy. It was kept in a bait tank for a full day before a state biologist made it out for verification.
After the record was verified, Scordo nurtured the fish to recovery and released it back into Chaumont Bay. An impressive gathering of local media was nearby and available to video the fish’s release.