Six fishing records certified in 2021, including one twice in eight days

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission certified six state fishing records in 2021, including the underwater spearfishing channel catfish mark that was broken twice in eight days. It was a record that had stood for more than 20 years.

Here are the records:

• Anthony Borghi of Ogallala speared a 26-pound, 9-ounce channel catfish at Box Butte Reservoir in Dawes County on June 5 to set an underwater spearfishing record.

• On June 13, Hunter Jordan of Hemingford speared a 27-pound, 5-ounce channel cat – also from Box Butte Reservoir – to set the new underwater spearfishing record.

• Brionna Schafer of Alliance set a bow-and-arrow record when she took a 6-pound, 6-ounce white sucker April 25 at Box Butte. It beat the old bow-fishing state record, which also was taken from Box Butte, by just over a half-pound.

• Marlyn Wiebelhaus of Wynot broke his own bow-and-arrow record for black buffalo July 28 when he took a 16-pound, 10-ounce fish from the Missouri River in Cedar County. His previous record was 7 pounds, 15 ounces.

• Steven Carel of DeWitt pulled a 1-pound, 14-ounce green sunfish through a hole in the ice Jan. 3 on Clatonia 3A Reservoir in Gage County to set a rod-and-reel record. He caught the fish on a waxworm. It beat, by 3 ounces, the previous mark, set in October 2020. Prior to that, the record had stood for 20 years.

• Walton Moore of North Platte, using a minnow for bait, caught the rod-and-reel record tiger trout March 11 at the inlet to Sutherland Reservoir in Lincoln County. The fish weighed 6 pounds, 13 ounces and measured 25¾ inches in length.

To see a list of Nebraska’s state-record fish, visit outdoornebraska.gov/nebraskafishspecies/#record. To read the state record rules, see the 2022 Nebraska Fishing Guide at outdoornebraska.gov/guides.