I received an invitation for a day of fishing at Lake Arthur with my friends Ken Bryan and Ron Hasychak for Crappies and other panfish that might come our way.

We aren’t too serious about fishing and just like to get outdoors and enjoy nature and the company of good friends. We were hoping that the Crappies might be turning on at the lake as we heard that some other anglers had been doing fairly well.

After a stop at Andersons’ Bait & Tackle on 422, we had some nice fathead minnows and a good attitude ready for our fishing adventure.

I guess you can have all the good attitude that you can muster, but when the lake is high and coffee-colored from all of the recent rains, you sort of know the odds are not in your favor. The water temperature was still cool and many of the landmarks and brushy areas were under water and happy to snag our tackle.

After working many good areas, we still had not landed a crappie and from the reports of other anglers, neither did they find the fish. I was lucky enough to catch a few perch, but the slab-sided fish were not to be found.

It wasn’t until I ended up at home that I found that a state record Yellow Perch was landed in Lake Erie not far from the shorelines of Erie. Kirk Rudzinski, 63, of Erie was fishing with his buddy using Emerald Shiners when he landed a new state record fish.

The perch was 16.7/8 inches long, with a girth of 14 inches and weighed in at 3 pounds, which broke the old record by 2 ounces. Kirk knew he had a chance at the record as he is the owner of the East End Angler Tackle and Bait Shop. He acted quickly and put the fish on ice and contacted the PFBC for official confirmation, which was made.

Many of the PA records can be reached by anglers who are on the ball and know the process to get their fish recognized. I took the time to research the Angler Recognition Summary for 2020 and was pleased to find some local entries of anglers and waterways that are near us in Butler County.

The 2020 Biggest fish award is for the top 5 fish for each category. I will note local waters and/or anglers who received PFBC recognition.

Women anglers made a splash with several entries including; Cheryl Riley of Pittsburgh, who caught a 24-inch Largemouth Bass at Lake Arthur and Neina Moriocco of Hermitage, who caught an 11-pound Striped Bass at Shenango Lake, and Ella Schupp of Mars, who landed a 5lb. 6oz. Rainbow trout on Sugar Creek. Other fish from Lake Arthur included a Carp caught by Murray Hofmeister of Butler which weighed in at 27 pounds.

Trout fishermen from the area also received recognition as well as our local waterways of Bear Creek, Buffalo Creek and Slippery Rock Creek.

Hunter McConnell of Petrolia landed a 19.5-inch Brook trout out of Bear Creek that took top honors for 2020. Bud Thompson from Herman landed a nice Brook trout out of Buffalo Creek that was 3lbs.2oz. and 21.5-inches in length. Brandon Reamer of Butler landed a Brown trout that was a hefty 10lb. 13 oz. 26.5-inches in length on Elk Creek in Erie County.

The Golden Rainbow trout recognition was held by Derek Valasek of Butler on Bull Creek at 23 inches, weighing in at 5lb. 3oz. Slippery Rock Creek yielded a 23-inch Rainbow trout to Dean Gilman of Slippery Rock that weighed in at 5lb. 8oz. Another angler hailing from Butler, Eric McKinnis, was recognized by the PFBC for his Steelhead trout, weighing in at 11 pounds 8 oz. McKinnis caught his trophy on Walnut Creek in Erie.

The lake that had much recognition for Crappies was Pymatuning Reservoir in Crawford County, where 2-pound 15-inch crappies have been caught by anglers in the month of May. So far, they have not cooperated along with the weather, but I am sure it is going to turn on any time now.

The largest Muskellunge caught in 2020 was a 53.5-inch fish in Tionesta Lake and a 46-inch fish in Pymatuning Reservoir. It seems that Pymatuning continues to have fish that could break records or at least get you into the top 5 categories.

Lake Erie is the place to go for some real wall hangers with 12-pound and over 30-inch-long walleyes.

Until we meet again, hang on to your fishing pole because you never know what might be on the other end of the line!

Jay Hewitt is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle