| On
July 1, 2006 at 8am, Ryszard Grzesik of Matawan landed a 32 pound,
7 ounce channel catfish using a shrimp for bait in Lake Shenandoah.
The behemoth, with a girth of 24 inches and a length of 34.5 inches,
was just 12 ounces shy of Howard Hudson's 1978 NJ state record
of 33 pounds, 3 ounces from Lake Hopatcong.
The
battle to land the fish left Mr. Grzesik, a smoker, winded.
"Maybe it lost 12 or more ounces because of the long fight.
If I was in better shape I could've landed it more quickly,
and I would now have the State Record!"
"That
was my last cigarette, I quit!" he said.
Hot weather really puts channels on the feed! See the list
of NJ channel catfish stocked waters for a location near
you, and the Freshwater
Record Fish page to see what record you might want to pursue.
Lake
Shenandoah is within Lake
Shenandoah County Park in Lakewood, Ocean County. The 100-acre
lake has accessible fishing piers, small boat launch (electric
motors only) and an on-site bait-and-tackle shop with boat rentals.
The lake is stocked with trout and supports thriving populations
of largemouth bass, pickerel, perch, crappie and sunfish. And
channel cats!
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