A 12-year-old Texas angler has fulfilled a three-year quest to set a youth record by landing a nearly 25-pound blue catfish at Calaveras Lake.
Colt Franke now holds the record for the largest blue catfish caught by a junior angler at the popular fishing reservoir southeast of San Antonio.
His catch last week was recognized by the Inland Fisheries San Antonio District – Texas Parks and Wildlife, which announced via Facebook:
“Help us congratulate Colt F. who caught this 33.5 inch, 24.5 lbs. Blue Catfish at Calaveras Lake. He had been trying to break the youth record the past 3 years and was able to achieve his goal last week! His next goal is to get his name on the Texas Elite Angler list. No doubt we will see it there someday!”
Colt was so pleased that he penned a letter to TP&W, thanking the agency for “everything that y’all do” and for recognizing the efforts of young anglers.
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In the letter Colt explained that he had been “trying to catch this fish for 3 years while working on my dad’s boat.” His dad, Travis, guides for San Antonio Fishing Charters.
Colt said that when the catfish struck he tried to pass the rod to someone else but his dad, knowing it was a large fish, responded, “No, you reel it in.”
Colt and his dad typically release fish, but Colt kept this trophy for the sake of setting the record. He added that the meat “was donated to a local pantry.”
While his achievement is noteworthy, there are much larger blue catfish to be caught.
The overall Texas record for blue catfish in the junior division stands at 72.40 pounds. That fish was caught by Cade Childress last March at Lake Tawakoni.
The state’s rod-and-reel record for anglers of all ages is 121.50 pounds, for a blue catfish caught at Lake Texoma in 2004.
For the sake of comparison, the overall world record for blue catfish stands at 143 pounds. That whopper was reeled from Kerr Lake in Virginia in 2011.