Ohio bowfisherman sets a second state record, this time with near 46-pound bigmouth buffalo

Toledo, Ohio — Brent McGlone, of Marysville, is not unfamiliar with Ohio’s bowfishing record book.

Back in 2007, McGlone shot the state record sucker – other than buffalo – and that record still stands today.

This past November, McGlone doubled up on his efforts. While bowfishing on Lake Erie with good friend Pat Johnson, McGlone arrowed a new record bigmouth buffalo that tipped the scales at 45.85 pounds.

“It was a team effort type of thing,” McGlone said of he and Johnson. “We’ve been best friends forever, but we don’t get to bowfish together very often.

“(Johnson’s) been saying for years that we needed to get together so he could drive the boat and I could shoot, because it’s kind of hard to do both,” McGlone said. “So, we did a scouting trip (to Lake Erie) in October and I shot two fish that were probably in the mid-40s (pounds). So, we came back up on Nov. 5 and we were super confident, kind of like Babe Ruth pointing to the bleachers and calling his shot.”

Early morning success

In the early morning hours of Nov. 6, McGlone and Johnson decided to fish a flat they knew held big fish. That’s when McGlone stuck his bolt into the big one.

“Once I got it up to the boat and turned it on its side, I said ‘Whoa, that’s a pretty big fish,’” McGlone said. “I tried not to get too excited.”

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A scale onboard the boat confirmed that McGlone’s fish was at least close to the record.

“Once we got closer to home on the way back and we were on more stable ground, I put it on a couple more scales that I had,” he said. “They read high 40s, so we started calling around to find someone (with a certified scale) who would let us bring the fish in for a weight.”

McGlone’s fish was certified as a record by the Outdoor Writers of Ohio’s State Record Fish Committee in early January.

Shortly after the catch on Nov. 6, McGlone’s fish was confirmed to be a bigmouth buffalo by fisheries biologists Nick Radabaugh, Ethan Simmons, and Tim Parker with the ODNR Division of Wildlife’s Central Ohio district office.

‘There’s lots of other big fish in there’

McGlone’s bigmouth buffalo measured 37.75 inches long and 32 inches in girth. The buffalo was arrowed at 3 a.m. while McGlone and Johnson were nightfishing on a boat specially outfitted with floodlights.

McGlone’s catch replaces the previous state record bigmouth buffalo by bowfishing, which was shot at Hoover Reservoir by Josh Bowmar on May 21, 2018, weighing 43.0 pounds and measuring 43.5 inches long.

McGlone doesn’t think his record will stand for very long, saying “there’s lots of other big fish in there,” referring to Lake Erie. McGlone might even shoot a bigger one in the near future, he surmised.

“He really wanted me to get the buffalo (record),” McGlone said of his friend, Johnson, who took a day off work to pilot the boat for McGlone in November.

Ohio’s record fish are determined on the basis of weight only and are certified by the Outdoor Writers of Ohio State Record Fish Committee with assistance from fisheries biologists with the Ohio Division of Wildlife.

For more information on Ohio’s state record fish program, contact Fred Snyder, chairman, OWO State Record Fish Committee, 754 County Road 126, Fremont, Ohio, 43420, phone 419-332-0777, email fnsnyder@gmail.com, www.outdoorwritersofohio.org.