In December, angler Michael John Drake hooked a giant blue catfish while casting cut shad in the Ohio River, about an hour northwest of Charleston, West Virginia. According to the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources, the big blue cat tipped official scales at 69.45 pounds, edging out the previous weight record by 36 ounces.
Drake — a resident of the nearby town of St. Albans — released the fish after WVDNR hatchery manager Ryan Bosserman came out to record its weight and length for the record books. Bosserman taped it out at 50.51 inches, just shy of the current length record of 50.7 inches. That fish was caught by Steven Price in the Kanawah River in May 2022. Price’s blue cat weighed 67 pounds.
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