Story by Mark England for Lone Star Outdoor News
A pending state-record channel catfish was caught March 2 at Lake Tawakoni. Angler Josh Garcia of Midland caught a 47-pounder while fishing with guide Noel Ibarra of Michael and Teri Littlejohn’s Guide Service. If confirmed, Garcia’s channel catfish would shatter the current state record of 36.5 pounds caught in 1965 on the Pedernales River.
Garcia’s channel catfish would also smash the record for Lake Tawakoni: a 31-pounder caught by Jerry Smithey on a trotline in 2001.
“Josh was doing his thing fishing for blue catfish and then this thing showed up” said Michael Littlejohn. “I’d never seen any that size. The biggest I’d ever seen was about 13 pounds at Lake Fork. This is kind of unheard of.”
Garcia and Ibarra didn’t realize what they had initially, Littlejohn said. Fishing with fresh gizzard shad heads, Garcia was chasing a blue catfish.
“And that’s what he thought he had,” Littlejohn said. “It wasn’t until he reeled it in that Josh saw the head was different. Noel was confused too. It had the color of a blue catfish, but also there were rays on the anal fin.”
The channel catfish was weighed at Trot Line Bait & Tackle in West Tawakoni, an official Texas Parks and Wildlife Department weigh station. A fin was clipped so TPWD can do a DNA test to determine if the catfish is a true channel catfish or a hybrid. And, then, the pending record channel catfish was released back into the lake, Littlejohn said.
