That day, Waterways Conservation Officer Scott Opfer met Nicholson at the angler’s residence in Connellsville where a visual inspection of the fish was conducted, verifying the species, weight, and measurements. In accordance with PFBC State Record Fish Application Rules, state record fish are recognized only by weight, and must exceed the previous record by at least two ounces. Tipping the scales at 18 pounds, 1 ounce, Nicholson’s fish appeared to beat the 41-year-old record held by angler Mike Holly of Bradford, Warren County, who had caught a 17-pound, 9-ounce walleye from the Allegheny Reservoir in 1980. “We had the fish home when my son looked up the state record, and said, ‘Dad, we better get this thing weighed,’” recalled Nicholson.īy the next morning, the walleye had expired, and Nicholson took the fish to a nearby grocery store where he had it weighed on a certified scale. The fish survived a short drive to his residence, where Nicholson placed the walleye into his spring fed live well normally used to keep minnows, or to hold fish overnight after a late night of fishing, before cleaning them the next morning. Nicholson, who describes himself as a “meat eater,” says he was thinking more about fish fillets than the record books when he put the large walleye into a five-gallon bucket with some water in an attempt to keep it alive until he could get it home. Larger than any previous catches that evening, the fish measured 34 inches, with a girth of 21.5 inches. It was so big that it actually broke the net.” It fought me for about 25 minutes before I got it up on the bank and my son got it in the net, and we could see it was a walleye. “I knew right away it was something big, and I thought maybe it was a musky. “I looked over and the rod had really taken a bend, so I grabbed it and just started reeling,” said Nicholson.
Nicholson continued to fish the same hole, when at around 6:45 p.m., he recalled his son yelling to alert him that something was tugging hard on his fishing line. It turned out to be only the start of the best day ever.” Before we knew it, we landed a big sauger and then a 27-inch walleye that weighed about nine pounds.
“Conditions were good, and we were catching fish right away. “We were fishing the bottom along the edge of a sandbar, just having a nice time being on the river,” Nicholson said. The father and son both live nearby and frequent the section of the river near the Crawford Avenue bridge in sight of the Connellsville Police Department.
On the evening of Oct, 28, angler Nicholson, 62, of Connellsville, Fayette County, was fishing from the bank of the Youghiogheny River along with his son, Richard Nicholson, Jr. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) Tuesday announced a new state record walleye has been caught and recorded. was targeting walleye using a spinning reel equipped with 6-pound test and a live creek chub attached to a number two hook, weighted down with BB-size split shot and a slip sinker.Īnd all that landed him s state record walleye. Tired of ads? Subscribers enjoy a distraction-free reading experience.