The Kansas state fishing record for a smallmouth buffalo has finally been broken after 44 years.
Thayne Miller, an angler from Topeka, Kansas, recently caught a 64.75-pound smallmouth buffalo from the Clinton Reservoir, five miles west of the City of Lawrence on the K-10 Highway.
The Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks shared news of Miller’s record-breaking catch on the agency’s Facebook and Twitter account on Wednesday, June 7.
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"Whoa!" the state wildlife department captioned both posts.
Miller reportedly caught the smallmouth buffalo with bowfishing equipment, and the fish measured 45.25 inches in length and 35 inches in girth.
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Smallmouth buffalo are a catostomid (AKA sucker fish) game fish species that typically live in bodies of freshwater in the United States, according to wildlife records from the U.S. Geological Survey.
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The game fish can generally be found in major tributaries and surrounding waters of the Mississippi River, Gulf of Mexico and Lake Michigan.
The Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks reports that the last state record holder was Scott Butler, an angler from Lawrence, Kansas, who reeled in a 51-pound, 41-inch-long smallmouth buffalo from a private farm pond in Douglas County.
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Anglers who hope to break a state fishing record in Kansas must have fishing license and use legal fishing means.
Record fish applicants are also required to photograph their catch, weigh the fish on a certified scale before freezing it and have the fish identified by a district fisheries biologist or regional fisheries supervisor with the Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks.
There’s a 30-day waiting period for state record fish applicants.
