Not long after dark on the night of March 9, 2012, John Nichols caught a record-breaking 120 pound blue catfish in the Holt Reservoir in Alabama. In an interview with Tuscaloosanews.com, he said, “I was looking [for] eight or ten this size to eat,” as he held his hands about 18 inches apart. Instead, he managed to reel in a single fish that will likely keep him fed for quite some time.
Nichols had help from his friend Robbie Tierce who helped net the fish. He caught it using a chicken gizzard as bait on a 40 pound fishing line.
Michael Holley, the district fisheries biologist in Eastaboga, said that catfish in that size range are extremely uncommon. Holley estimates that only about three percent of the total catfish population reach a weight in the range of 50 to 100 pounds.
Original press release issued by Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources on April 10th, 2012:
John Nichols shattered the Alabama blue catfish record with a 120-pound, 4-ounce fish. Nichols, who lives in Tuscaloosa, caught the behemoth from Holt Reservoir on March 9, 2012. He used a chicken gizzard on a large circle hook and managed to land the beast using 40-pound fishing line.
Read more: http://www.outdoorhub.com/news/alabama- ... und-beast/
