Every fishing trip makes memories, whether it is the number of fish caught, fun with family and friends or just something rather dumb that happened.

Few, if any, fishermen leave the dock thinking today they are going to catch a state-record fish. Certainly, unless you have been through the process once, most people are not prepared to handle a state-record fish or know how to get it certified. That is especially true when you are targeting a species with less than a four-pound state record and end up catching a different species slightly more than 50 pounds.

That is exactly what happened in 2023 when Andrew Peffly of Fairborn caught his state-record Bigmouth Buffalo weighing 50.9 pounds. It was caught at Hoover Reservoir. It is one of the craziest fishing stories that I’ve heard. Here is his adventure.

Peffly is an avid crappie fisherman often competing crappie tournaments with is friend Nate Boldman who owns Nasty Nate lures.

Peffly explains, “I began fishing Hoover at the start of 2023. I had heard great things about crappie fishing but didn’t know anything about the lake. Hoover is a 9.9HP lake, and I don’t have a kicker motor, so I didn’t know how the batteries would last. I fished Hoover once around the islands near the Oxbow ramp and caught a good bunch of crappies.”

His story continues … “Every year the Ohio Crappie Club has a youth tournament usually the weekend after July 4. My buddy Nate Boldman, my wife, and I had our kids in the boat. We set up to long line troll using 12, 14, and 16-foot rods making a good spread with eight rods out. All the rods were running out the back of the boat since we had the little ones with us. We were running about 1.5 mph in 17 feet of water. I cast the last 16-foot rod out, set it in the rod holder and turned to check where we were on the water. I was still getting used to the new trolling motor remote control and Hoover Reservoir. We were fishing at the north end of the lake. I slowed the boat to about 1.1 mph and felt everything was dialed in for crappie. I use six-pound test line on all the rods. The last rod was using a 1/8-ounce Nasty Nate’s Road Runner. When I looked the rod was bent double. I thought it had to be snagged but yelled fish on as I grabbed the rod. When I felt it, I still thought I as hung or had hooked a submerged log. I was able to bring it in slowly, but it was very heavy. I never felt a tug or any resistance to indicate a fish on. I thought perhaps it was a turtle. It was just dead weight until it was about 20-feet from the boat. I loosened the drag some more hoping I could land it. I saw it swirl, I thought it was a monster blue cat which Hoover is also known to have.”

While Peffly was trying to land the big fish on a very light line, all the other rods out proved to be a challenge. His wife, Lani, and Boldman had their hands full getting those rods out of the water. They landed a couple of other fish during the struggle plus encountered tangled lines. It was quickly becoming chaos on the boat. As the Buffalo made any run, they followed it with the boat to keep from breaking the line.

“It was absolutely nuts for few minutes,” Peffly said. “I knew the net wasn’t going to be any help. I am all the way on one side of the boat, holding the 16-foot rod up as high as I can.”

The fish finally tired out. Nate’s little girl was really hanging onto Daddy. He was finally able reach into the water and grab the fish. He flopped it into the boat knocking his little girl down too! It was just wild. The fish was flopping rather violently on the floor. Nate just dropped on top of it.

“It was all we could do to get the fish into the boat,” Peffly said.

Even after the big fish was in the boat, they were not sure of the species. It looked like a carp but not exactly. The big fish had completely mangled the little crappie jig. The fish was left lying on the floor while they struggled to identify it. The crappie tournament also had a payout for the largest non-crappie species, which they were certain this fish would win. However, they had to take the fish to the tournament weigh-in. So, the fish was towed behind the boat on a dock line for the remaining tournament time. Some fishing friends finally identified the species as a Bigmouth Buffalo and looked up the state record. Peffly was certain this fish was larger. The Ohio Crappie scales, which were not auditor certified scales, showed the weight as 51.55 pounds. Since the fish did not fit into any of the boat live-wells, it again rode on the bottom of the boat, just over an hour drive time to Peffly’s home.

Peffly explained the next dilemma.

“I knew we had to take care of it. It dried out a lot on the floor of the boat on the way home. It is a job to get a state record certified in Ohio. Finding a certified scale on a weekend was impossible. Fortunately, my neighbor had a big Igloo cooler. So, we got a lot of ice, made a cocoon in the ice and got the fish into it. The tail was turned up but still in the ice. I left the drain plug open so the water could drain out. I kept it until we could find a certified scale.”

Finally, after an exhausting search, a company popped up in the Clayton, Ohio area. They could weigh it, but it would cost $700 for them to do it on the weekend. Fortunately, they offered to do it for free during normal business hours. So Peffly took Monday off to get the fish weighed. The next step was to go to the ODNR Division of Wildlife District 5 office in nearby Xenia so the fish biologist could examine it.

“Once they realized why we were there, personnel came in from everywhere to see it,” Peffly said. “They positively identified the fish and did the measurements although weight is what matters for the record. The fish is still at the taxidermist being mounted.”

Congratulations to Andrew Peffly on his state-record fish. I know he is glad that light six-pound test line held long enough to land the fish. For more information regarding state record fish, application, and instructions visit https://outdoorwritersofohio.org/ohio-record-fish.

Larry Moore is an outdoor columnist for AIM Media Midwest.