It’s official: NC Wildlife Resources Commission certifies two state catfish records

Published 10:37 pm Sunday, August 15, 2021

Officials with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission certified two catfish state records earlier this month that were broken within one week of each other in July. Rocky Baker, of Four Oaks, broke the blue catfish record on July 10 and Taner Rudolph, of Hubert, broke the channel catfish record on July 17.

Baker caught his 127-pound 1-ounce blue catfish on the Roanoke River with gizzard shad, according to a press release from NCWRC. The fish measured 60 inches long and 40 1/4 inches in girth. Baker used a Mad Cat rod and Penn Squall reel. His fish was weighed on scales at the EZ Bait & Tackle in Goldsboro.

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Taner Rudolph, of Hubert, broke the channel catfish record with a 26-pound channel catfish. Courtesy NCWRC

Rudolph, who bested a record that was broken for the first time in 50 years last year, reeled in his 26-pound channel catfish on the Neuse River using cut bait. The fish measured 38 5/8 inches long and 22 ¾ inches in girth. Rudolph used a Shakespeare rod and reel. His fish was weighed on the same scales in Goldsboro that weighed Baker’s catch.

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“These are the first two freshwater fish state records certified in North Carolina this year,” stated the release. “Three anglers broke state catfish records in 2020.”

To qualify for a N.C. freshwater fish state record, anglers must have caught the fish by rod and reel or cane pole; have the fish weighed on a scale certified by the N.C. Department of Agriculture, witnessed by one observer; have the fish identified by a fisheries biologist from the Wildlife Commission; and submit an application with a full, side-view photo of the fish for record certification.

For anglers who catch a catfish that doesn’t quite measure up to this latest record-breakers but yet still meet minimum size and length requirements, NCWRC has blue and channel catfish classifications for its North Carolina Angler Recognition Program (NCARP). “NCARP officially recognizes anglers who catch trophy-sized freshwater fish that do not qualify for a state record with a certificate featuring color reproductions of fish artwork by renowned wildlife artist and former Commission fisheries biologist Duane Raver,” stated the release.

For a list of all freshwater fish state records in North Carolina or more information on the State Record Fish Program, visit NCWRC’s State Record Fish program webpage.

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