I was helping out at a local church fish fry and the fellows there started talking about fishing and the anticipation that they had for the upcoming fishing seasons in 2021.

My buddies Ken and Ron were talking about walleye and ice fishing at Kinzua Dam and how it really is a difficult impoundment to fish because of its depth and sheer acreage in surface waters. I was telling them about fishing the overflow into the Allegheny River back in the 70’s when an abundance of walleyes and brown trout were caught in the raceway waters of the dam’s outlets.

That’s when I recalled that the PA state-record fish was caught about that time from the Kinzua Lake.

The state record walleye was caught in the Allegheny Reservoir in Warren County by Mike Holly in 1980. The walleye was a whopping 17 pounds, 9 ounces. The bruiser of a fish has held onto the record for largest walleye for 40 years so far. That record is the fourth-longest standing record for a Pennsylvania fish in the PA Fish & Boat Commissions record book.

Since I gave you one of the top five fish in the record book for longest standing catches in PA history, you might want to guess what other fish round out the state records for oldest standing records.

I will automatically discount the trout/salmon families due to the stop and go history of Pennsylvania’s stocking history and failure of natural native breeding history. These include the Atlantic Salmon in 2001, the Chinook Salmon in 1990, the Coho Salmon in 1985, and the Pink Salmon in 1995.

The PF&BC really did go all out in the 80’s with the salmon stocking program in Erie County and plenty of fish were being caught along the streams, shorelines and off shore. It really was a circus when some shore fisherman hooked up with one of the decent fish and it zipped across a dozen anglers casting out in the surf.

I had, as well as many others, some super fishing days, but the plan was short-lived and ended by the 90’s. The trout species including Steelhead trout, Brown Trout and Rainbow Trout still provide much excitement for Lake Erie anglers with record fish weighing in over 20 pounds.

The oldest record fish in PA has to go to the Muskellunge with a record fish dating back to 1924. That record is nearly 100 years old and was caught by Lewis Walker Jr. from Meadville. Lewis caught the muskie at Conneaut Lake in Crawford County and it tipped the scales at 54-3. This is the one fish record that I believe will not be broken.

Muskie fishermen are really on the ball when it comes to measuring and weighing their catch. The PF&BC measures these fish by inches anymore and a 50-inch fish is considered a very nice catch,let alone a 70-plus fish.

Other fish still hanging on in the record books include the Common Carp, weighing 52 pounds in the Juniata River by George Brown back in 1962. This fish can be caught, but not too many anglers target them let alone weigh them … so the door is open for this record to be overtaken.

No. 3 in the book is the 3-2 Rock Bass caught in Elk Creek in Erie County by David L. Weber in 1971. This fish is also a sleeper and could be overtaken as well if an angler became really committed to the task.

The final two records for the top five oldest records in Pennsylvania were a tie in 1983. They were the Largemouth Bass and the Blue Gill. The Largemouth weighed in at 11-3 and was caught in Birch Run Reservoir in Adams County by Donald Shade. The Bluegill was caught locally in Keystone Lake in Armstrong County by Tom Twincheck and weighed in at 2-9, which is a hefty Bluegill. Both of these fish would take a big effort to beat out for the record with the nod going to the Bluegill record before the Largemouth record.

Each year there are record fish likely caught and never checked out for record weights before being released or fileted for dinner! Take the time to check out the state records and try to get your own entry in the Pennsylvania Angler Record Books!

Until we meet again, sharpen up your hooks and your reading skills before you head out for Pennsylvania’s waterways!

Jay Hewitt is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle