Escambia River Catfish Falls Just Short Of State Record

July 15, 2015

Darrin Smith of Byrneville recently caught this huge flathead catfish on the Escambia River near Bluff Springs using a rod and reel. He met a Florida Fish and Wildlife officer for a certified weight. The fish weighed in at 50.5 pounds — 4.5 pounds short of the state record. Photo for North Escambia.com, click to enlarge.

Comments

31 Responses to “Escambia River Catfish Falls Just Short Of State Record”

  1. Catfishinmam on July 30th, 2015 12:18 am

    That’s a flat head otherwise they would not weigh it for the record dummy’s

  2. joe w. on July 19th, 2015 1:19 pm

    Man Darrin that’s a very nice fish I remember years ago when we use to fish

  3. Susan on July 17th, 2015 1:08 am

    Nice!!!

  4. wendy on July 16th, 2015 8:42 am

    That is awesome Darrin!

  5. 429SCJ on July 16th, 2015 5:37 am

    Congratulations on your nice fish Mr Smith.

    I like to use a hand sized bream on a #5 treble hook through the tail, float it at nigh when they come up top to feed. 60lb test Ande line, with a hand twist steel leader, Penn spinner on a 16ft Daiwa surf rod.

  6. Peggy on July 15th, 2015 10:27 pm

    WOW, Congratulations that’s a nice one !!

  7. well on July 15th, 2015 9:37 pm

    @ Matt
    not sure about the bait but I have noticed some chickens missing from the coup.

  8. Sherry on July 15th, 2015 7:14 pm

    That’s a big fish, congratulations!

  9. Matt on July 15th, 2015 7:13 pm

    It is most definitely a flathead. I run lines on escambia in Molino all the time and have caught and seen many of those fish. Just had a 20 pounder two weeks ago and it looked just like that. They are called flatheads but when they get that big their head isn’t so flat anymore. Would like to know what kind of bait was being used cause these fish tend to only eat live bait, mainly bream.

  10. Darrin Smith on July 15th, 2015 6:53 pm

    Thanks you guys!!! Now for a special thanks to officer Hutchinson with the Florida game and fish commission for his help ,as well the fine people at Holland farms for the official weight.

  11. chris in Molino on July 15th, 2015 5:01 pm

    @Night troller
    Man you have revealed yourself as either not from this area or not a serious river fisher. That IS definately a flathead. The record must be for rod and reel however, because i’ve seen bigger caught out of escambia on bush hook. Awesome fish though. Can’t take nothin away from that fish Darrin.

  12. Jennifer on July 15th, 2015 3:09 pm

    Nice Flathead, bet he was fun reeling in!!! This is a flathead catfish, also known as a yellow cat!! Escambia River has tons of these big catches!!

  13. willis on July 15th, 2015 2:55 pm

    @ molino man and night trolley

    So you’re saying he had a 50 lb yellow bullhead when the record for that appears to be less than 7 lbs.

    Sounds fishy to me.
    Course you don’t know a flathead when you see him in a picture either.

  14. elmerpsuggins on July 15th, 2015 2:42 pm

    That,s what I’m talking about good catch

  15. wendell on July 15th, 2015 2:37 pm

    He’s the same color as the river. Flavored with Molino mud! :D

  16. catfish on July 15th, 2015 2:08 pm

    If that was a yellow bullhead that would break the current state fecord by over 40 pounds. Now that would be a great story! Its a flathead for sure…..

  17. Michael Boatwright on July 15th, 2015 12:56 pm

    Good job, I remember the the Bass you brought to a parking lot at a old Kmart in Atmore. I know you can do better my BROTHER.

  18. Puddin on July 15th, 2015 12:51 pm

    Thats a BIG fish!

  19. deBugger on July 15th, 2015 11:37 am

    “Flathead”?

    Don’t you mean the angler, not the fish?

    Just Kidding. Nice Work.

  20. Erin Hallford on July 15th, 2015 9:53 am

    Way to go uncle Darrin!

  21. Vera on July 15th, 2015 8:17 am

    I SEE YA DARRIN !

  22. Gary on July 15th, 2015 7:54 am

    Nice fish…. You soak the nuggets in milk and I will come with peanut oil, bread, ketchup and beer!

  23. kim smith on July 15th, 2015 7:39 am

    Way to go brother!!!

  24. molinoman on July 15th, 2015 7:25 am

    @night troller, I agree it looks like a yellow bullhead, not a flathead. I’ve caught a many in the same area this was caught.

  25. Matthew Dobson on July 15th, 2015 7:25 am

    That’ll be a few catfish nuggets Smitty! Congratulations!

  26. night troller on July 15th, 2015 6:54 am

    Nice fish but that’s not a flathead it looks like a yellow cat but definitely not a flathead

  27. molinoman on July 15th, 2015 6:35 am

    Nice fish, bet he was tough, fatty and muddy to eat though.

  28. Don on July 15th, 2015 6:12 am

    SWEET!!!!! I bet that. Was fun

  29. Crystal Spears on July 15th, 2015 5:55 am

    Way To Go Darren!!! :-)

  30. Aaron Smith on July 15th, 2015 5:28 am

    Dang Brother

    Why not just tell em how the fish saw you coming and beached his self saying he knew he may as well give up now.

    AWESOME FISH

  31. chris in Molino on July 15th, 2015 4:23 am

    Great fish Darrin

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News, Sports, TOP sports