Oh my goodness, now that’s a girthy, girthy fish.
Blue catfish are known to be some of the fattest slobs in the fish world, but the new state record out of North Carolina is one of the chunkiest fish the world has ever seen.
The 127-pound 1-ounce fish was caught by Rocky Baker in the Roanoke River earlier this morning. The fish was so big that he needed help from his friend, Justin Clifton, just to get the fish into the boat.
According Newsweek, the new record broke the old state record by more than 5 pounds. It is the 3rd largest blue catfish ever caught. The world record blue catfish weighed 143 pounds and was caught in Virginia in 2011.
The monster cat was weighed in at the E-Z Bait and Tackle Shop in the town of Goldsboro and subsequently released back into the wild.
Baker and Clifton are no strangers to catching big catfish. Last year the duo won the Neuse River Wares Catfish Tournament series.
“It was like a dream come true for most serious catfisherman.
We hope that this monster continues to grow and prosper in the waters of our amazing state.
When that #MADKATZ rod bent over we would’ve never expected that the new NC state record blue cat would’ve been on the other end of the line. After a long hard fight we were able to land the giant and the rest is history.
Proud to be a part of this with you brother. Congratulations buddy you earned it!”
The largest species of catfish in North America, blue’s can reach lengths of over 5 feet, although the average length is less than 2 feet. The biggest blues routinely tip the scales at over 100-pounds.
Blue cats are native to the Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Rio Grande river basins but they are now also found in coastal and inland waters of several states across New England, the Mid-Atlantic region.
They are considered a problematic invasive species in some areas, such as the Chesapeake Bay, where they were introduced in the 1970s and 1980s.
