A 116-pound catfish catch

[Eric]

A 116-pound catfish catch said to be third largest in Virginia
by Bill Cochran  | Special to The Roanoke Times


Tim Richardson and Steve Dudzinski, neighbors who live near Kerr Lake, were trolling for striped bass on the north end of the 50,000-acre impoundment when they landed what Richardson has documented as the third largest blue catfish catch in Virginia.


The fish weighed 116 pounds. The state record is a 143-pound Kerr catch taken June 28, 2011 by Richard Anderson of Greenville, North Carolina. The blue catfish is the only freshwater species that has exceeded the 100-pound mark in Virginia’s record book.

The fishing trip for Richardson and Duzinski began as a quest for striped bass.


Richardson, who wrote an account of the outing for the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries’ The Outdoor Report, has been fishing for Kerr stripers since the early 80s.


He was at the helm, pulling four downriggers in the area of Markers 15-18. The depth finder/locator was marking fish, but there were no strikes. Then one of the rods bounced a couple of times and Duzinski grabbed it. At first, he thought the bucktail lure had snagged a tree.

“Then we realized we had something big and alive,” said Richardson.


Maybe a 50-pound cat, they thought.


Richardson used the boat to ease the giant fish into deeper water, hoping to avoid snags that might pop the 30-pound line.

When the catfish was reeled close to the boat, somehow the free-spool lever on the reel accidentally was hit causing an enormous backlash. By then, the fish was worn out and Duzinski was able to reel line over the backlash to get the fish within gaffing distance.


www.roanoke.com/sports/outdoors/bill-cochran-field-reports-a--pound-catfish-catch-said/article_a02092c2-5d50-11e5-906d-fb2ac553bef3.html