A Virginia man completed a record-breaking catch this week with a $20 Walmart fishing rod, according to multiple news reports.
Jeffrey Dill, who pulled in a 68-pound flathead catfish to break the Virginia state record set 25 years ago, said it wasnt easy to take the monster fish out of Lake Smith in Virginia Beach.
After all, he used a $20 fishing rod he bought at Walmart.
"I put him on the dock, held him down for a minute. He was so big," Dill told WAVY, a local news station.
Dill said he wrestled with the creature for 15 minutes before bagging it.
Dill said he brought the fish which he nicknamed Big Earle to the local Oceans East Bait and Tackle store. A researcher from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries measured the fish to see if it broke the record, according to Fox News.
The store shared an image of Dill and his fish.
The fish weighed about 68.8 pounds, which is 2.4 pounds heavier than the previous record-setting flathead catfish, which was captured in May 1994, Fox News reported. Other sources listed the final weight tally at 68.12 pounds.
"It was a true river monster," said Chad Boyce, a fish biologist for the Virginia DGIF, to WAVY. "It was a big fish that you don't expect to see in this part of the state, especially in Lake Smith. That's definitely a trophy."
Boyce said the State Record Fish Committee will likely certify Big Earle as the new state record-holder, according to UPI.
Jeffrey Dill, who pulled in a 68-pound flathead catfish to break the Virginia state record set 25 years ago, said it wasnt easy to take the monster fish out of Lake Smith in Virginia Beach.
After all, he used a $20 fishing rod he bought at Walmart.
"I put him on the dock, held him down for a minute. He was so big," Dill told WAVY, a local news station.
Dill said he wrestled with the creature for 15 minutes before bagging it.
Dill said he brought the fish which he nicknamed Big Earle to the local Oceans East Bait and Tackle store. A researcher from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries measured the fish to see if it broke the record, according to Fox News.
The store shared an image of Dill and his fish.
The fish weighed about 68.8 pounds, which is 2.4 pounds heavier than the previous record-setting flathead catfish, which was captured in May 1994, Fox News reported. Other sources listed the final weight tally at 68.12 pounds.
"It was a true river monster," said Chad Boyce, a fish biologist for the Virginia DGIF, to WAVY. "It was a big fish that you don't expect to see in this part of the state, especially in Lake Smith. That's definitely a trophy."
Boyce said the State Record Fish Committee will likely certify Big Earle as the new state record-holder, according to UPI.
