Slippery Rock High graduate Kim McMenamin caught this 10-pound, 32-inch walleye in Lake Erie recently. She received a Master Angler award from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission for her efforts.

It's no fish story — and Kim McMenamin has the pictures to prove it.

The 1999 Slippery Rock High School graduate, now an art teacher at Perseus House Charter School in Erie, recently caught a 10.1-pound, 32-inch long walleye in Lake Erie.

She caught the fish — one of the biggest walleyes to come out of the lake — on just her second-ever fishing trip on the lake.

"I fished a lot when I was little and we visited my grandpap in Ohio,"McMenamin said. "He taught me a lot of fishing tips."

She moved to Erie nearly a year ago and really got into fishing through her boyfriend, Brandon Stormer. A friend of Stormer's, Jesse Nye, owns a boat and it was while on that vessel that McMenamin caught the walleye.

It was officially weighed and she received a Master Angler award and patch from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.

The fish is being mounted, "But we took pictures to prove I caught it,"McMenamin said, beaming.

Using a 10-pound fishing line at the time, she knew she had latched on to something big.

"From about 30 yards away, we saw its white belly. ... I couldn't believe the size of it," McMenamin said. "It was a chore bringing it in. We had to scoop it once we got it by the boat. It was too big for our net."

The Pennsylvania record for biggest walleye caught belongs to Mike Holly of Bradford, who reeled in a 17-pound, 9-ounce walleye from the Allegheny Reservoir in Warren County in 1980.

The state records fish by weight. A fish must surpass the current record by at least two ounces to replace it.

McMenamin's walleye would have set state records in Alabama, South Carolina, Maine or Mississippi. The national record for walleye is 25 pounds, caught by Mabry Harper in Tennessee in 1960.

While in high school, McMenamin competed on a Slippery Rock volleyball team that reached the state tournament. She ran track and field and played in the band as well.

Now 25, she admitted to gaining renewed enthusiasm toward the sport of fishing through her big catch.

"I want to get into steelhead fishing now,"she said. "This is a good season for that.

"I filet most of the fish we catch. They make for good eating. But not this one.

It will make for good viewing.