In January, Lee Haile III of Towson set a new Maryland state record for chain pickerel with a fish that weighed in at 8 pounds. The record pickerel was caught in a pond near Salisbury, MD. The previous state record was a seven pound, four-ounce pickerel caught by Roy Molick Jr. in 1976.
Haile weighed the fish at Clyde’s Sport Shop in Halethorpe and later obtained a certified weight at Conrad’s Crabs & Seafood Market in Parkville. Lockwood met Haile later near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to confirm the species.
Haile used a light spinning tackle with eight-pound braided running line, a 20-pound monofilament leader, and a minnow/jig combo lure.
The current world record for chain pickerel is nine pounds, four ounces caught in 1961 in Georgia.
source: Maryland Department of Natural Resources