Catfish anglers in Georgia had a record-breaking October, officials say
The month of October was particularly dandy for a few Georgia anglers who pulverized state records with their impressive catches, multiple sources said.
The leader of the pack is a 110-pound blue catfish caught on the Chattahoochee River, a “monster” get that was the largest ever caught in Georgia, McClatchy News reported.
Angler Tim Trone of Havana, Florida, said his goal was to merely catch a 50-pound catfish, he was shocked of what actually was on the hook.
“The tail comes out the water and all I thought was, ‘Man, I got my 50-pound fish. I’ve got the 50-pounder,’ ” Trone told Fox 8 News, according to USA Today Sports.
While he was happy he held the new state record for the nearly 5-feet long catch, he was upset that the fish died.
“I never keep bluecat, I always cut them loose,” he said according to McClatchy. “This fish went from wide open to just nothing. I’ve babied this fish, can’t describe how I feel. Depressing for sure.”
While, a lot of anglers are known to use the catch and release method when snagging blue catfish, some prefer to catch the treasured type of fish for food purposes. Though it’s suggested that when eating this specific type of fish, it’s best to keep it under a certain weight, Game and Fishing Magazine says.
“Keep smaller fish to eat and release larger catfish – those that are older and less common – so they continue growing and provide trophy fishing opportunities,” the magazine suggests. “There’s no hard-and-fast rule to follow, but I personally draw the line at 5 pounds. The fillets and steaks I eat come from smaller, more abundant blue cats. Same with channel cats and flatheads.”
On Oct. 27, Aaron Churchwell reeled in a 52-pound, 1-once blue catfish on Allatoona Lake by using as bait the flesh of a small channel catfish, crushing a lake record, GON.com said.
“I’ve fished Allatoona for about four years now, and there’s one little area on the lake that holds big fish, but they are not easy to catch,” Churchwell said to GON. “We mark them there all the time, but you just can’t get them to eat. We were drifting through, and every time we’d drift across it, we would catch one a little bigger.”
USA Today reported that the catfish was kept alive overnight and weighed the next day. The fish’s weight was certified before Churchwell released it back into the water.
Churchwell was able to crush a record set only a mere 16 days earlier by angler Arturo Medina, who wrestled in a 44-pound blue catfish while out fishing for bass, USA Today and the Georgia Department of National Resources said.
This story was originally published November 11, 2020 at 1:57 PM with the headline "Catfish anglers in Georgia had a record-breaking October, officials say."