blue catfish – Syndication Server

Fisherman earns several awards by catching a 62-pound catfish

In addition to a variety of awards, the Texas angler earned a new responsibility by catching a lake-record 62-pound catfish at Falcon Lake.

A fisherman in Texas earned a variety of awards, along with a new responsibility, by catching a lake-record 62-pound, 45.5-inch blue catfish from Falcon Lake.

According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife, Ricardo Garza earned a Water Body Record, Big Fish Award, Water Body Catch and Release Record, and an Outstanding Angler Award.

In addition, Garza, who is also a fishing guide from Lone Star Fishing Guide Service, became the newest Official Weigh Station for the Angler Recognition Program in Texas.

“If you are fishing near Zapata, Texas, and think you may have a record, give Ricardo a call!” the Texas Parks and Wildlife post stated.

Incidentally, the blue catfish record for Texas is 121.5 pounds caught by Cody Mullennix on Lake Texoma on Jan. 16, 2004, nearly 20 years before Garza’s catch, which was on January 15.

According to the International Game Fish Association, the all-tackle world-record blue catfish is 143 pounds caught by Richard Nicholas Anderson on Kerr Lake, Buggs Island, Va., on June 18, 2011.

West Virginia blue catfish record falls again, keeping streak alive

Michael John Drake becomes the fourth West Virginia angler to establish a blue catfish state record in as many years.

A West Virginia angler has become the latest state-record holder for blue catfish.

Michael John Drake, of St. Albans, was fishing with cut shad at the R.C. Byrd Pool on the Ohio River earlier this month when the giant catfish struck.

The fish weighed 69.45 pounds and measured 50.51 inches. The weight eclipsed the record mark of 67.22 pounds set last year by Steven Price.

According to the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources, this is the fourth consecutive year in which a new state record for blue catfish has been established.

For comparison, the all-tackle world record for blue catfish stands at 143 pounds, for a fish caught at Virginia’s Kerr Lake (Buggs Island Lake) in June 2011.

Fisherman using smaller net than usual lands state-record catfish

Chris Andrews knew he had hooked into a big catfish, but he didn’t know how big until trying to land it with his “smaller net than usual.”

After multiple tries, Andrews landed a 48-pound, 7.2-ounce blue catfish that eclipsed the old Delaware state record by a mere 4 ounces. It was the fourth state record of the year in Delaware’s Sport Fishing Tournament, according to the Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife.

Earlier this month, Andrews was fishing at night with friends on the Nanticoke River when he made the catch.

“Fishing is a big part of my life – I go out about three times a week, so I guess you’d say I’m an avid fisherman,” Andrews told the Division of Fish and Wildlife. “I knew it was a big one, just not how big.

“I got the fish up and close to the boat multiple times, but it would just take off pulling my drag. I had a smaller net than usual, so it took multiple tries (to get it into the boat). After about a 5-minute fight, the fish was landed.”

Sgt. Nathan Evans of the Delaware Natural Resources Fish and Wildlife Police certified the record, which was weighed on a certified scale at the Taylored Tackle Shop in Seaford. The previous record was set in 2022 by James Lord.

Andrews caught the blue catfish using cut bait.

S.C. man lands giant blue catfish, sets bowfishing world record

A South Carolina bow fisherman has been granted a world record after landing a nearly 85-pound blue catfish on Jan. 6 at Santee Cooper Lakes. Stuart Vandyke also established a new state record, according to the Bowfishing Assn. of America. Vandyke …

A South Carolina bow fisherman has been granted a world record after landing a nearly 85-pound blue catfish on Jan. 6 at Santee Cooper Lakes.

Stuart Vandyke also established a new state record, according to the Bowfishing Assn. of America.

Vandyke “arrowed” the massive catfish just weeks after his friend, David Ard, hauled in an 80-pound blue catfish at Santee Cooper to set the state and world record.

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Wrote Carolina Fish and Hunt: “Once [Vandyke’s] arrow pierced the fish, he knew it would be big enough to vie for the record. He and his friends wrestled it aboard, then called a friend with a certified scale.

“They weighed the fish and got it entered into the Bowfishing Assn. of America’s record book, ending Ard’s short-lived status as world record holder.”

Vandyke’s catfish weighed 84.8 pounds.

His state and world record are recognized by the Bowfishing Assn. of America. The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources only recognizes bowfishing records for bowfin, carp, and longnose gar.

For comparison, the South Carolina rod-and-reel record for blue catfish stands at 113.8 pounds.

The rod-and-reel world record is listed at 143 pounds, for a 2011 catch at Virginia’s Kerr Lake.

–Image courtesy of the Bowfishing Assn. of America

Angler reels pending-record blue catfish from Tennessee river

A Tennessee angler on Saturday landed a pending state-record blue catfish while enjoying ‘kind of a date’ with his wife.

The 118-pound, 7-ounce catfish was reeled from the Cumberland River by Micka Burkhart, who was fishing with his wife, Amy. The fish was weighed in front of witnesses, including a state biologist, and released.

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“The blue cat will be a new Tennessee record pending verification and certification,” The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency boasted Sunday on Facebook.

The current record, 112 pounds, was set in 1998, also on the Cumberland River.

Burkhart, in reference to Amy, told News 9: “We don’t get to fish together a whole lot [so] this was kind of like a date. In fact, that morning she made a joke saying, ‘Every time we go on a date, somehow or another your friends get involved.’ I told her, ‘Nope, today it’s just you and me on the river.’ ”

Burkhart was fishing with 30-pound-test line and using skipjack shad for bait. The catfish, kept in a live-well during his search for a certified scale, measured 54 inches with a girth of 41 inches.

For comparison, the world record for blue catfish stands at 143 pounds. That catch was made in 2011 by Richard Nicholas Anderson at Kerr Lake in Virginia.

Fishermen caught with 665 catfish, four cited for limit violation

Five fishermen were cited for recreational fishing violations, including over limits and fishing without a proper license.

Four of five fishermen caught in possession of 665 blue catfish were cited for being over the limit by Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries enforcement agents.

The daily limit on catfish per angler in Louisiana is 100 fish in aggregate of blue, channel and flathead catfish, so they were 165 fish over the limit.

Timothy Jones, 60, of McComb, Miss., Ellis R. Martin, 57, of Summit, Miss., Thomas Firth, 56, of Tylertown, Miss., and Steven Riley, 59, of Gulfport, Miss., were cited for being over the daily limit, according to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

Clifton Clark, 44, of Gulfport, Miss., wasn’t cited for being over the limit but was cited for not possessing a non-resident fishing license, as were Riley and Jones.

Agents Lt. Adam Young and Senior Agent Austin Landry were on patrol and discovered the fishermen in violation when responding to a complaint on the Mississippi River levee just south of the Empire Locks. The agents found the catfish in multiple ice chests, seized them and donated them to Hunters for the Hungry.

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Taking over the daily limit of catfish carries a $250 to $500 fine and up to 90 days in jail, the LDWF reported. Not possessing a non-resident basic fishing license brings up to a $350 fine. The men may also face civil restitution for the replacement value of the catfish totaling $493.73.

Photo of the seized catfish courtesy of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

Phoning friends brings fisherman luck, and a record blue catfish

Fishing solo on the Kanawha River in West Virginia, Steven Price hooked into three big catfish, landing two, including a 67-pounder.

Fishing solo with his dog Daisy on the Kanawha River in West Virginia, Steven Price discovered phoning friends while fishing has its rewards…in the form of good luck.

Price hooked into a big flathead catfish and had been fighting it for five minutes when the fish went into a snag and broke him off. He told Metro News he thought the fish weighed 40 to 50 pounds.

Feeling dejected, he phoned his longtime fishing partner Marcus MacDonald.

“I…told him what happened, and how I was a little bummed out,” he told Field and Stream. “But I said, ‘Okay, before I move to the next spot, I’m gonna re-rig these rods and give it another 15 minutes.’ I put my rods back out and pretty soon one bent. As soon as I picked it up, I could tell it was another really big fish.”

Sure enough, he hooked into a big blue catfish, fought it, netted it, removed the handle from the net to weigh the fish and then released the catfish. The fish was a personal-best 56-pounder.

“I was thinking, man what a day,” he told Metro News.

Excited about the catch, Price began phoning friends to tell them about his catch, and saying “this may be the biggest fish I catch all year.”

He was on the line with one friend when his rod bent again, indicating another fish.

“I pick it up, and I’m instantly fighting it,” Price told Field and Stream. “It’s another big one. Now, this doesn’t even seem real anymore. This is one of those days everybody dreams of happening.”

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When he got a glimpse of it in the water, he recognized it was a blue catfish and that it was bigger than the previous catch.

“That first [one] was 56 pounds and it was close to the record, I was thinking this might really be the record,” Price told Metro News. “It really set in when I went to lift it up over the side of the boat. I remember thinking this is a really, really heavy fish.”

Of course, to lift it over the side of the boat he had to net it first, and he had forgotten to reattach the handle.

“So, I was sitting there holding on to this fish with one arm and reaching back to assemble the net with the other,” he told Field and Stream.

Fortunately, he managed to reconnect the handle, net the blue catfish and haul it into the boat. His scale pushed over 70 pounds, including the net.

“I set him down and said, that’s definitely the state record,” he told Metro News.

A friend put him in touch with West Virginia Department of Natural Resources Biologist Ryan Bosserman, who certified the catch as a state record. It weighed 67.22 pounds. It also set the state record for length at 50.7 inches.

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The previous record was 59.74 pounds caught on the Kanawha River by Cody Carver only seven weeks before. The previous length record was 50.15 inches set by Justin Goode last year.

After the record was confirmed, Price released the fish back into the river.

“You can’t ask for a better trip,” Price told Metro News. “Days like that are what we dream about.”

Photos of the record blue catfish courtesy of the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources.

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Record-shattering catfish caught on Mississippi River

A Mississippi angler has shattered the state record for blue catfish after a 40-minute fight with what he described as “a fish of a lifetime.”

Eugene Cronley, of Brandon, hooked the massive catfish while using skipjack herring as bait on April 7 near Natchez on the Mississippi River.

“We could hardly get him in the boat,” Cronley told the Clarion Ledger. “I was wore out.”

The fish weighed 131 pounds and replaces a 95-pound blue catfish as the state record.

“The fish shattered the previous rod-and-reel record of 95 lbs. caught by Dakota Hinson in 2009, and is larger than the trophy record blue catfish of 101 lbs. caught by the team of Freddie Parker and Brad Smith in 1997,” the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks boasted Monday on Facebook.

Cronley described the catch as “truly a fish of a lifetime.”

Eugene Cronley (right) admires his record catch

For the sake of comparison, the all-tackle world record for blue catfish stands at 143 pounds. That catfish was caught at Virginia’s Kerr Lake in 2011.

Blue catfish are native to the Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio River basin systems, and have been introduced elsewhere the U.S.

–Images showing the record catfish are courtesy of the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks

Anglers land 95-pound catfish to keep ‘amazing’ streak alive

Michael Robinson and Terry Raymer teamed to catch and release a 95-pound blue catfish on the Ohio River, keeping alive a remarkable streak.

March 15, apparently, is an outstanding day to try to land a giant blue catfish on the Ohio River in Kentucky.

On Tuesday, Michael Robinson and Terry Raymer teamed to catch and release a blue catfish that weighed 97 pounds while still in the net. (Robinson is pictured atop this post.)

Kentucky Afield, on Facebook, placed the weight of the “monstrous” catfish at 95 pounds, while Catfish NOW called it a 94-pounder and welcomed both anglers to the “90-pound club.”

But perhaps more impressive is that this marked the fourth consecutive March 15 that Raymer had been involved in the catch of a truly enormous blue catfish on the Ohio River.

Kentucky Afield explained, “Although a fish of this size is something anglers often only see in their dreams, Terry and his fishing buddies are no strangers to them. On March 15th the past four years in a row they have put a fish over 80 lb in the boat… Amazing!”

That’s mostly accurate.

Raymer provided the accompanying photo showing of all four March 15 catfish – from the 95-pounder caught Tuesday (top left) to the smallest, a 75-pounder caught by Raymer (bottom right). The others weighed 82 and 80 pounds.

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The fish were hooked at two of Raymer’s favorite spots near Louisville. “I think I might go fishing on the 15th again next year,” he joked.

Raymer told FTW Outdoors that the 95-pound catfish struck a piece of skipjack tuna, with Robinson at the rod.

“The fish swam straight to the boat like it didn’t know it was hooked, then got under the boat and peeled,” Raymer said. “It was about as hard a fight for five minutes at the boat as a blue can give, which was surprising considering the water was 45 degrees.”

The massive catfish was weighed, eventually, and released back into the river.

Said Raymer: “I was pretty excited to be part of Mike’s catch and I take a lot of satisfaction being able to put my friends on some trophies. They appreciate all the time I’ve put on the river and they soak it in like sponges.”

Blue catfish, native to the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio River basin systems (and introduced elsewhere in the U.S.), can be much heavier, although the absolute giants are rarely caught.

The world record, listed at 143 pounds, was set at Kerr Lake in Virginia in 2011.

Angler makes tournament splash with catch of 106-pound catfish

A South Carolina angler has landed a 106-pound blue catfish to propel his team to victory during a recent tournament at Santee Cooper Lakes.

The catfish was so immense and powerful that it “literally destroyed the extra-large plastic tub used to hold fish before placing them into the stainless steel bin to be officially weighed,” according to the Carolina Sportsman.

Vern Reynolds caught the 106.62-pound blue catfish while teamed with Mike Durham during the Santee Lakes Catfish Club’s inaugural tournament on Jan. 15. The competition involved 20 teams that combined to weigh more than 1,330 pounds of catfish.

Three teams were skunked and seven teams delivered more than 100 pounds of catfish to the scale. All catfish were released after being weighed.

106-pound blue catfish pictured at left. Credit: Santee Lakes Catfish Club

Reynolds’ massive catfish was caught while he and Durham drifted on the lower lake. Their three-fish limit weighed 200.15 pounds.

The Santee Lakes Catfish Club provided this synopsis Jan. 16 via Facebook:

“Man, what a tournament Santee Lakes Catfish Club had yesterday! Some of the best anglers in the country went out and battled some rough, March-like winds in January, and it paid off for a lot of them. We had 7 teams weighing in total weights of 100+ lbs, with the 1st place team coming in with an astonishing 200.1 lbs, including a BRUTE weighing 106.6!”

Few anglers have landed blue catfish topping 100 pounds. The all-tackle world record – a catch made at Virginia’s Kerr Lake in 2011 – stands at 143 pounds.

–Images courtesy of the Santee Lakes Catfish Club