BALTIMORE, MD—Ben Halfpap, an angler from Monkton, has caught all three invasive species in Maryland, and caught them at trophy size. Halfpap has now been awarded the Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ FishMaryland Master Angler Milestone Award.

The award is given to those who have caught ten trophy-sized fish of different species in Maryland. Halfpap is now the 12th person to receive the award since it began in 2019.

Halfpap is an avid angler who has been fishing since the age of five. However, he says that he did not get seriously about fishing until 2020.

He targets a variety of fish species, including blue and flathead catfish, Chesapeake Channa, striped bass, land-based shark, and carp.

“I always have good things to say about the FishMaryland program, and I learned a lot about fishing for a diversity of species in Maryland’s waters, including fishing for carp in tidal rivers, which I had not done much before,” Halfpap said. “I have always been a multispecies angler, but while working towards the Master Angler milestone, I expanded my range of target species even further”.

His catches were submitted for all ten entries, and he was awarded the Master Angler certificate on July 12, 2024, two weeks before his 21st birthday.

Halfpap’s qualifying catches, in order, were:

• Chesapeake Channa (northern snakehead) – 32 inches
• Blue catfish – 42 inches
• Flathead catfish – 41 inches
• Channel catfish – 30 inches
• White perch – 13 inches
• White catfish – 21 inches
• Striped bass – 45 inches
• Hickory shad – 18.25 inches
• Carp – 30 inches
• Sand tiger shark – 84 inches

For more information on the FishMaryland program and the Master Angler Milestone Award, visit the FishMaryland website.

This article was written with the assistance of AI and reviewed by a human editor.

Photo via DNR/Ben Halfpap