Tennessee angler Micka Burkhart caught and launched a brute of a blue cat final weekend that ought to simply exchange the present state report for the species. Though Burkhart remains to be ready on report verification and certification by the Tennessee Wildlife Assets Company, the 118-pound, 7-ounce catfish he caught on Sept. 24 outweighs the present report by greater than 6 kilos.
Burkhart caught the catfish round midday on Saturday whereas fishing together with his spouse on the Cumberland River in Stewart County, in keeping with Information Channel 9. He was utilizing a Mad Katz rod rigged with 30-pound-test and a Gamakatsu 8/0 hook baited with a three-inch skipjack. After battling the catfish for a strong 45 minutes, Burkhart hauled the fish into the boat with some assist from his spouse. Then he borrowed a 110-pound scale from one other angler on the river and promptly maxed it out. Effectively conscious that the present state-record blue cat weighed 112 kilos, Burkhart realized his fish may very effectively surpass that quantity.
At that time, Burkhart wished to get the large blue on a licensed scale. Extra importantly, although, he wished to maintain the fish alive and wholesome so he may launch it again into the river. After contacting the TWRA, he and his spouse put the fish of their boat’s reside effectively and waited on the nearest boat ramp.
“I wished to do every little thing in my energy to maintain that fish alive and launch it,” he informed Channel 9. “I’ve caught numerous catfish. I’ll hold these smaller fish to eat however I prefer to let the massive ones go to catch them once more one other day.”
He mentioned that after ready for hours for a TWRA wildlife officer to reach, he nearly misplaced his persistence and kicked the fish free. However then he obtained a cellphone name from TWRA’s Officer Dalton Gooch, who had already positioned a licensed scale at a close-by sport processor. Gooch helped the Burkharts rigorously transport the 54-inch-long fish to Who Dat Processing, the place the digital scale registered 118 kilos, 7 ounces.
Then they went straight again to the boat ramp on the Cumberland to launch the massive blue. A video posted on Fb exhibits Burkhart and one other angler standing shoulder-deep within the river as they revive the large catfish and set it free.
“The video was solely about two minutes lengthy, however we truly stayed within the water with that fish for practically half-hour,” Burkhart informed reporters. “We did all we may, and the fish stayed robust. It by no means misplaced any of its coloration and he swam off wholesome.”
Like lots of the onlookers who watched Burkhart launch the catfish that day, lots of people have praised the angler from Massive Rock, Tennessee, for going the additional mile to launch the fish alive. Greater than a thousand folks had commented on the TWRA’s Fb put up as of Monday morning, and lots of of them thanked Burkhart for prioritizing conservation above report recognition.
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“Good job Micka for touchdown that brute of a fish, caring for it, and releasing it wholesome to combat once more,” Tony Fuller wrote on Fb yesterday. “Couldn’t have occurred to a greater particular person! That is the way it’s completed of us. Conservation at its finest!”
Fuller additionally identified that the present state-record blue cat, caught in 1998, was pulled from the Cumberland River as effectively.
“I’ve mentioned it many occasions all through the years [that] the subsequent Tennessee state report blue would come out of the Cumberland River,” Fuller added. “Congratulations to Micka Burkhart for proving it!”
