Record-Breaking Snakehead Caught In Potomac River

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A man from Indian Head, Maryland, has caught a record-breaking snakehead fish in the Potomac River.

Emory Baldwin III and his regular bow-hunting partner Franklin Shotwell were wrapping up a night of stalking northern snakehead from Baldwin's boat along the Maryland side of the Potomac River when they decided to check the flats near Marshall Hall to see if the blue catfish had moved up into the grass, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

According to Baldwin, it was Shotwell who saw the big snakehead, but it was on his side of the boat.

After quickly aiming his compound bow, he released an arrow and was engaged in a tug of war with an 18.42-pound Maryland record.

The next day, he had it weighed on a meat scale at the Gray Brothers Market in Marbury, Maryland, and DNR Southern Region Manager Mary Groves later confirmed the species and made the new recordofficial.

While state fishing records are normally awarded only for fish caught by rod and reel, Maryland makes an exception for three invasive fish species: northern snakehead, blue catfish and flathead catfish.

These species may be caught by any legal recreational harvest method and considered for state record recognition.

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