WV Angler’s 72-Pound Blue Cat Could Pay Out $20,000
A spur-of-the-moment catfish trip on the Ohio River turned into a state record and a potential five-figure payday for Tyler Harmon of Ravenswood, West Virginia.
According to Field & Stream, Harmon was out with his dad and 4-year-old son last month, hoping to land a small cat his boy could reel in, when one of their rods buckled over. What followed was a 20-minute fight to keep a giant blue catfish out of the anchor line. He also had to steer it clear of underwater brush near their 18-foot aluminum jon boat.
“We were just hoping to catch a small catfish for my boy to reel in,” Harmon told Jackson County’s 13 News. “When we got it in the boat, [Walker] turned to my dad and said, ‘Papa, that’s a big fish!'” Harmon added that when the fish first surfaced, his son “started flipping out thinking it was a shark.”
Certified at 72.75 Pounds
Harmon’s dad netted the fish and the two hauled it aboard together. Early readings topped 70 pounds, but the scale on hand that night wasn’t IGFA certified. To settle it properly, Harmon kept the fish alive overnight in a stock tank filled with river water at the boat ramp. He then had it certified at a local bait shop the next day.
Per Field & Stream, the official weight came in at 72.75 pounds, with the fish measuring 48.15 inches long and 33.5 inches in girth. That edged out the previous West Virginia record — a 71-pounder caught by Micheal Ramey on the same stretch of river back in May.
The $20,000 Angle
Harmon was fishing a HellCat rod from Catch the Fever, which runs a promotion paying out anglers who set records with the company’s gear. According to Catch the Fever, that makes his catch eligible for a $20,000 payout.
“We are still doing our due diligence and gathering the paperwork to make it official,” the company wrote in an August 31 Facebook post. “But as everything sits right now, Tyler’s fish qualifies for the full $20,000 Catch The Fever state record payout. Best part: that fish was released alive and swam off strong.”
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