Can you identify this weird fish?

[Raincatcher]

Caught & released
Muskingum River, Ohio
They are saying it may be a new state record (17") and 100+ years old

 

[DOKF]

That is not a fish ...

 

[Irishrover]

Looks like the offspring of a salamander who mated with a catfish!

 

[Raincatcher]

Looks like the offspring of a salamander who mated with a catfish!

Right? That's exactly what I thought, too! At 17" long, I can't imagine finding it at the end of my line. I wish it said how long it took to reel it in.

 

[REELY HOOKED]

Not a fish just a salamander, big one!

 

[DOKF]

17 inch, not 17 feet ...

Photo was staged in perspective; it was posed on a picnic bench.

Still a big, ugly salamander.

 

[Raincatcher]

Found the answer: Common Mudpuppy, they can grow to 20ish inches

 

[Chromatose]

Catfished?

 

[Eazy-E]

mud dog. I swear ive seen one before when I was younger on a farm near the little luckiamute

 

[Diehard]

Saw one around 20" when I was a young boy 30yrs ago now swimming i was swimming in one the pools at the state park near silverton or. It was suspended in the water and its gills were sticking out of its gill plates really freaked me out I thought my grandfather called it a Pacific salamander anyway very cool pic.