Jaylynn Parker with her 101.11-pound Ohio state-record blue catfish caught
in an Ohio River tributary in 2024. Photo by Kristen Parker
Life After Landing A State-Record Catfish
By Anietra Hamper
Teenager Jaylynn Parker reflects on the past year after catching the Ohio state-record blue catfish, the controversy and her journey in the spotlight.
A lot has changed in a year for 17-year-old Jaylynn Parker. If her name sounds familiar, chances are you heard her interviewed or saw social media posts touting her record-breaking Ohio blue catfish catch in 2024.
“It all kind of changed once I caught the fish, and I didn’t expect it to blow up the way it did,” said Parker who is from New Richmond, Ohio.
Parker caught her 101.11-pound blue catfish on April 7, 2024 in a tributary of the Ohio River in Clermont County. The fish measured 56.5 inches long with a girth of 39.5 inches. It far surpassed the previous state record, which was a 96-pound blue catfish, and Parker’s personal best, which weighed in at 66 pounds.
Parker, who was 15 at the time of her catch, was unprepared for the attention this fish would generate and how her life would change on that Sunday.
“I got recognized a lot from Facebook and on social media. I had lots and lots and lots of interviews,” said Parker, laughing as she thought back to that time. “It was mostly the interviews that got to me because it was constant. At one point, I had four news stations come to my school in one day.”
The new state record garnered Parker more than just interviews. It set her on a trajectory that she never imagined, including being presented with an Ohio state resolution by Senator Terry Johnson.
Then came the invites to attend the Catfish & Crappie Conference, followed by product sponsorships. Parker leveraged her increased visibility to start a TikTok channel called Parker’s Outdoor Adventures where she features posts from her fishing tournaments and her hobby of painting lures.
Parker also garnered a lot of other unexpected attention as controversy stirred in the fishing world over her method of catching the record fish. Parker used jugs and limblines, which she opted to try during a time when the river was flooded. The section of tributary generally ranges from four to five feet deep in normal conditions, but, in 2024, it surged to 30 to 40 feet, limiting other fishing options.
“We can’t really fish anywhere else because the river is so high, so we just found something stupid to do, and the stupid worked out,” said Parker.
Some in the angling community took issue with the jugging method over catching the fish with a rod and reel, but the technique is allowed in Ohio. The Outdoor Writers of Ohio, the entity that that oversees the state’s official angling records, certified Parker’s catch with assistance from fishery biologists with the Ohio Division of Wildlife. Parker took both the praise and the criticism in stride, which wasn’t always easy for her family who were unaccustomed to being in the spotlight.
“The biggest thing for me was that I just kept a good mentality about all of it no matter what anybody said,” said Parker. “For every one bad comment, there were a thousand good comments.”
Once Parker caught her breath from all the attention, she recognized this opportunity for more than just holding the state record. For Parker, it was a way to do even more with fishing and elevate her experiences that she began at an early age with her father.
“We fish tournaments once a month, maybe twice a month, but definitely my passion is stronger about fishing now. I definitely want to pursue this more and be serious about it,” said Parker.
When Parker thinks back to that day on the water she recounts the moments with an inflection of anxiety and enthusiasm as if they’ve just happened.
She recalls how the jugs lines were placed out the day before and the peculiar way one jug was moving upon checking them in the morning.
“We get out on our little two-man plastic boat, and I start pulling it up. I’m like, okay, this is a pretty big fish. It feels pretty decent,” said Parker.
The dead-weight resistance on the line was unlike anything she’d felt before.
Parker described how the small boat nearly capsized when the fish exerted a burst of energy towards the end of the fight. Once the fish was secured into the net, she says a new realization set in.
“I was like, yeah, this is the biggest fish I’ve ever seen in my life,” said Parker. “I knew right then and there we were not going to get that fish in the boat. There was no way. He was almost as big as our boat.”
After the fish measurements were certified, it was released in same spot where Parker caught it.
Parker is proud of her record and her fishing journey that all started with her dad. She’s even commemorated this life-changing moment in ink with a new tattoo.
“It’s been me and my dad’s thing since I was a little girl,” said Parker. “He was the one who got me into it. He’s kept me going on it. He doesn’t let me get lazy with it, and he wants me to actually pursue this because he saw something in me ever since I was a little girl. I’m glad he did because I wouldn’t be where I’m at today without him.”
Parker also recognizes that she now has an opportunity to get other girls into fishing and has already made an impression.
“I do see myself kind of as a role model for younger kids, especially when I was at the catfish conference, because I did meet a few younger girls who saw my story and said that they wanted to start fishing more because of me. That made me really happy,” she said.
As Parker reflects on the past year in the spotlight, she’s proud of what fishing has taught her in life, namely that success requires work to make it happen and that quality time with the people you’re doing it with is as rewarding as catching a record fish.
(Anietra Hamper is a career television news anchor and investigative journalist turned award-winning outdoor writer specializing in fishing and outdoor adventure. Anietra travels the world fishing for catfish and other unique species in new destinations.)
