Florida State Catfish Records

This page displays the current Florida State Catfish Records for the three major species.

Flathead Catfish Record

This is the current standing record Flathead (angler and fish shown above.) Caught in the Apalachicola River on April 9th 2004. Weighed in at 49 lbs 39 ounces. Caught on a hand sized Bluegill.

---

Flathead World Record

The World Record Flathead with angler Ken Paulin. Caught in Elk City Resevoir in 1998. Weighed 123 lbs 9 ounces. There could be bigger Flatheads, however something this size is certainly very rare.

---

Florida State Record Bluecat

This is the current Florida State Blucat Record (angler and fish above.) This was actually caught this year breaking the previous Bluecat record which came out of Escambia River. The new record was caught by James Mitchell. The fish weighed 64 lbs 5 ounces. And was caught in the Choctawhatchee River using a hand sized Bluegill.

---

World Record Bluecat

This is the World Record Bluecat caught by Tim Pruiit of Alton IL. It was caught in the Mississippi River (probably below Alton lock and dam) and weighs 124 lbs even. This was caught on May 22nd 2005. Bait is undisclosed to my knowledge.

---

Florida State Channel Cat Record

The Florida Channel cat record sits in at 44 lbs. 50 ounces. Caught by Joe Purvis (no pictures available) in Lake Bluff. The fish was mastered on May 19th 1985. This is an exceptionally large Channel Cat. This record may stand a very long time much like the world record. Channel Cats exceeding 30 lbs are a rare find these days.

World Record Channel Cat

The World Record Channel Cat was caught by W.B.Whaley in 1964.The fish weighed 58 lbs and was caught in lake Moultrie South Carolina. This is part of the famous Santee Cooper Resevoir system. This record has stood for 44 years and running.

---

Link to Florida State Fish Records (Freshwater)

http://myfwc.com/FISHING/record.html

Link to Florida State Record submittal form

http://myfwc.com/FISHING/pdf/record-applicationPRINT.pdf