Fox Chapel teen catches pair of large flathead catfish on Allegheny River
Will Carnevale has been fishing off his family’s dock in Allegheny Township off the Allegheny River for quite some time, but this past weekend he received quite the surprise … twice.
After casting his line Friday night, the Fox Chapel senior said he walked into the house for a few minutes and came out to realize the reel was empty and his rod on the dock was leaning.
“My whole fishing rod spool was gone, the line wasn’t there and I had like 800 feet of line on it because I had just left it out and went inside,” said Carnevale, who will play soccer at Lehigh in the fall. “When I came out, I saw my rod leaning over with no line on it. So, I was like ‘Oh my God, I have a big one.’ ”
It took Carnevale about 30 minutes to reel in his first flathead catfish of the weekend. Although he didn’t get an official measurement, Carnevale said it was between 3½ and 4 feet long. He said it was the biggest fish he’s ever caught on the river.
“I had no clue what it was, I had never seen anything like it,” Carnevale said. “When I pulled it out it was this giant, disgusting catfish. Me and my friend were both going crazy about it.”
Just a few days later, Carnevale received another big bite when he stepped inside his house for a few minutes. This time around, his line snapped, and he was holding onto it before retying it back to the rod. He and his dad jumped back into their boat to reel in his second big flathead catfish in a few days.
“It was honestly crazy because the night I caught the first one I thought it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I didn’t think I was ever going to catch another one like it,” Carnevale said. “Then, I catch another about the same size.”
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.