Fishermen Capture Giant Catfish
Jason Cribb and his friend Thomas Hole were out fishing October 30th in South Carolina when he hooked a nearly 80 pound Arkansas blue catfish in Santee Cooper.
Jason told Carolina Sports Man,“Thomas moved in from Arkansas and had been asking me to take him fishing. I knew immediately we needed to head to Black’s Camp to get him on the striper bite which has been on fire. I was certain we would have our string pulled. And although I know Santee Cooper is loaded with giants, I never expected to reel in the catfish of a lifetime.”
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Battling The Colossal Catfish
Carolina Sports Man reported the two men didn’t have a net and were not able to get the fish onto the boat with their bare hands. However, after fighting it for 45 minutes another fisherman, Kevin Davis was passing by and let them borrow his fishing net so they could finally pull it onboard.
Kevin also happened to have a film crew with him who caught it all on camera and later posted the video to his YouTube channel, SportsmanNetwork. They said they were fishing in water that was about 20 feet deep and used live herring bait.
“I sent down a live herring. It wasn’t down long before the fish hit. I set the hook and it was on. When I felt it hit, it took the bait hard. I knew it wasn’t a bass. All I could do was let him run,” Jason told Carolina Sports Man.
The Catfish Weighed 77.1 Pounds
Once they got it on the boat they quickly took it to Black’s Camp to be weighed and to their amazement, it weighed a whopping 77.1 pounds! After weighing it they put it in an oxygen-rich bait tank to revive it back to full health.
Jason and Kevin then made a few calls and got permitted to have the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources move the fish from Black’s Camp to Cypress Gardens where it is now held in a big tank on display for visitors to see.
“It was an incredible experience. I appreciate all of the fine people that helped us make it happen, and I can’t wait to get back on the water to go fishing in Santee Cooper again,” Jason told Carolina Sports Man.