Pittsburgh angler's 36-pound, 2-ounce channel catfish is a new Pennsylvania state record

Pennsylvania has a new state record channel catfish. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission announced Oct. 21 that it certified a 36-pound, 2-ounce fish caught by David Taylor Jr., 44, of Munhall, Allegheny County.

Taylor and his friend Alex Atkinson were fishing the Tri-State Hawg Hunters tournament on the evening of Oct. 3 on the Allegheny River, below the Highland Park Lock and Dam near Sixmile Island in Pittsburgh. Just after 8 p.m. the fish took a chunk of cut mooneye on a Carolina rig with 40-pound monofilament. Taylor first thought it was a blue catfish. At the next morning's weigh-in another angler suggested it might be a big channel cat, and counting 26 anal-fin rays (channel cats have fewer than 30) confirmed it.

Because the first certified scale could not print an official weight, Taylor contacted Waterways Conservation Officer Abigail Luteri, who witnessed a second weigh-in on Oct. 4 at Goodman's Bait and Tackle in Ford City. The fish again weighed 36 pounds, 2 ounces, topping the 1991 Lehigh Canal record by 9 ounces. It measured 42 inches long with a 26-inch girth. With the officer along, Taylor released the catfish alive back into the Allegheny.

PFBC reminds anglers chasing a record to use a state- or county-certified scale, keep the fish until commission staff have examined it, and send in a notarized State Record Fish application with color photos.

Photo: David Taylor Jr. with his record channel catfish, via Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission — New State Record Channel Catfish Recorded (Oct. 21, 2026).