HARRIS COUNTY, Ga. — An Alabama fisherman and his brother-in-law reeled in the catch of their lives this weekend: a 63-pound blue catfish!
Georgia Outdoor News spoke with Gene Fleming, of Phenix City, Alabama, who made the catch over the weekend with his brother-in-law Billy Leffinghamwell on Goat Rock Lake.
The lake is located off the Chattahoochee River near the Georgia-Alabama line.
Fleming told GON it took them almost 35 minutes to make the catch. The catfish took Fleming and Leffinghamwell on a 300-yard chase, too.
“It took me about 25 minutes just to pull him up to the boat where I could see what he was and another 10 minutes where we could get just his head in the net. It took both of us to get him in the boat,” Fleming told GON.
You can read more about what techniques the men used to capture the record catfish here. The GON also keeps track of fishing records for most major lakes and rivers in the state.