Everything really is bigger in Texas.
At least when it comes to the state’s blue catfish, with this one ending up being literally bigger than the person who reeled it in. That kind of day out on the water doesn’t happen often.
But it did happen for Jaxon Yoakum, a 9-year-old fisherman (fisher-kid?) who reeled in a blue catfish that would make even the most experienced anglers envious. We’re assuming that Yoakum needed some assistance pulling it in, since the massive catfish ended up weighing more than Jaxon.
Texas Parks and Wildlife took some time to give the 9-year-old a shoutout for his accomplishment, and clarified that his catfish now holds the Twin Buttes junior record:
“Jaxon Yoakum, 9, submitted his catch for the pending junior waterbody record Blue Catfish for Twin Buttes Reservoir. The Blue Catfish weighed in at 51.5 pounds. and was 46 inches long. His catch smashed the previous Twin Buttes junior record of 8.95 pounds set back in 2021.”
Not only did the 51.5 pound catfish “smash” the junior record, it barely missed out on the Blue Catfish record as a whole in Twin Buttes, which was set at 52.5 pounds back in 2002. So close…
Having a catch like this at such a young age is a huge accomplishment, and is definitely worth celebrating…but the cynical part of me thinks that this creates a “Where do you go from here?” scenario. I guess Yoakum can always go for the Twin Buttes Blue Catfish record of 52.5 pounds. After all, he was only one pound off at the age of 9, so he’s got plenty of living left to try and push for a 53 pounder.
But anyways, props to Jaxon if he picked out that shirt specifically for the picture below. “Sheeesh” perfectly encapsulates the feeling that really anyone would have when they see a catfish of that size:
