By Cory Boothe
Coryboothe@hotmail.com
Last week, Experiencing the Outdoors had an article about the state record flathead catfish caught by L.L. Mcclung out of the Little Kanawha in 1956. The behemoth fish weighed 70 pounds and was 52 inches long. The record has not been broken in fifty-seven years!
At the end of many articles, I give my email address if anyone has any info or opinions about the subject of the article. I rarely get a response, so I was pleasantly surprised to hear from Tina and Steve Belcher of Newark. Mrs. Belcher is the great-granddaughter of L.L. McClung. The Belchers were so kind to send an article (see below) from the Parkersburg News and Sentinel highlighting another prize catch of Mr. McClungs.
Apparently the article was before L.L. caught his state record flathead as the fish in the picture is 67.5 pounds, forty-nine inches and the record established by him is 70 pounds and fifty-two inches. The article makes no mention of him holding the state record for flatheads, so I assume it was printed before the record catch in 1956.
Also mentioned in the article is his catching of a 42 pound perch. "Perch" is the common name along the Little Kanawha for freshwater drum. It is of interest to note that the state record freshwater drum is 27 pounds and was established in 1989. So his "perch" would be a full fifteen pounds heavier than the current state record.
In closing, I want to thank the Belcher family of Newark for so kindly sharing this precious experience in the outdoors.
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