Michael Landreneau was fishing in a man-made pond built just 20 years ago when he captured a potential world-record black bullhead fish.
“My brother (Patrick) had heard a story that somebody had hooked a big catfish and missed it,” Michael told Louisana Sportsman. “This was 10 years ago, so I was thinking: ‘Well, let me see if there are any catfish in there.’”
It was hard for Michael to wrap his head around how a record-breaking fish could have come out of such a small man-made pond, but it did. On May 15th, the 47-year-old petroleum landman from Lafayette set up his pole near the shoreline when he noticed it started to bounce.
“I was not expecting to catch one, and I wasn’t prepared for it,” he said, “and when it came up to the bank, it popped the line. So I went back the following week, which was this weekend, and did the same thing.”
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The next week, Michael used a No. 7 circle-hook on a 4-inch wire leader fished from a Penn, open-faced, spinning combo and cast it in the water.
“The pond was dug in 2003,” Michael said. “I imagine they may have stocked bream and bass at some point, but it’s pretty much a 20-year-old pond that hasn’t been fed or anything.”
Michael was anticipating the bite this time, snagged the hook properly, and reeled that monster fish in. After he weighed it, he sent a picture of the catfish to Louisiana Sportsman, who put him in touch with the International Game Fishing Association (IGFA).
Once it gets certified by the IGFA, the 11.3-pound black bullhead fish will shatter the previous record of 8-pound, 2-ounce caught in New York in 2015.
