Man catches more than fish at Cheney Lake, fire department helps reel in a big one
7 June 2023
TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNT) – A Topeka man now has his name etched into the state history books with a new record-breaking catch out of a local reservoir.
Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) spokeswoman Nadia Marji said in a press release that Thayne Miller, of Topeka, caught a smallmouth buffalo weighing in at 64.75 pounds, measuring 45.25 inches long and with a girth of 35 inches. Miller caught the monster fish out of Clinton Reservoir near Lawrence using bow fishing equipment.
Thayne Miller, of Topeka, caught a smallmouth buffalo weighing in at 64.75 pounds, measuring 45.25 inches long and with a girth of 35 inches, breaking the state record (Courtesy: Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks)
Marji said the last state record in Kansas for smallmouth buffalo was set in 1979 by Scott Butler of Lawrence when he pulled in a 51-pound, 41-inch smallmouth buffalo from a private farm in Douglas County.
A fish can end up as a new Kansas state record if it meets the following requirements:
The fish is caught by a licensed angler using legal means
The fish is identified by a Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks district fisheries biologist or regional fisheries supervisor
The fish is weighed on a certified scale prior to being frozen
The fish is photographed in color, and a state record application is filled out
The mandatory 30-day waiting period has passed.
You can see a list of current Kansas state records by clicking here. Another state record was broken recently when Bobby Parkhurst, of Topeka, shattered a 60-year-old record for white crappie earlier this year.