Brendan Walsh, a 26-year-old fisherman from Mendocino County, California, may have broken state and world records after catching a canary rockfish weighing 10.25 pounds (4.65 kilograms). The fish was caught on Tuesday off the coast of Albion, approximately 150 miles north of San Francisco.
Walsh, who was fishing with his father Will Walsh, decided to make one last stop at a deeper spot after a day of catching yellowtail. Describing the catch as a 'fluke', Walsh said he had never seen anything like it. The fish measured 2.25 feet (0.68 metres) in length, close to the species' maximum of 2.5 feet.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, canary rockfish can grow up to 2.5 feet and weigh 10 pounds. Walsh noted that the fish he usually catches are around 3 pounds. The current California state record for the species is 9 pounds, caught last November in the same county.
Walsh submitted the catch to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, which requires witness details and verification by an environmental scientist. The fish was weighed at an authorised market, and a local scientist signed off on the paperwork. Walsh has also submitted the catch to the International Game Fish Association in Florida, where the current world record of 10 pounds was set in 1986.
After documenting the catch, Walsh's mother, Deirdre Lamb, fried the rockfish with garlic and butter for a family meal on Wednesday.
