Largest blue catfish: Nick Anderson set world record (Video) GREENVILLE, NC, USA--Nick Anderson, 29, worked 45 minutes to snag a 143-pound blue catfish in Buggs Island Lake (officially the John H. Kerr Reservoir), just over the Virginia line from North Carolina - setting the new world record for the Largest blue catfish. Photo: Nick Anderson of Greenville, N.C., left, his father Rick Anderson and stepbrother Jeramie Mullis pose with the 143-pound blue catfish caught Saturday in Virginia in Buggs Island Lake, also known as the Kerr Reservoir. Photo:AP (enlarge photo)
The previous world record was a 130-pounder caught in the Missouri River last year.
The Guinness world record for the most people gutting fish simultaneously is 1,000 and was achieved by the people of Santoña, in Cantabria, Spain.
Guinness World Records also recognized the world record for the Most fish caught with one hand in 30 seconds: Justin Hall (USA) caught with one hand a total of 22 salmon weighing between 1.81 - 2.72 kg (4 - 6 lb), which had been thrown from a distance of 5.48 m (18 ft).
He was fishing with his father, Richard Anderson of Mebane, and his brother Jeramie Mullis of Raleigh.
His father and step-brother helped him haul it into their boat. "We were just shocked," said Anderson, the angler with the sore back.
Anderson, who is getting married in three weeks, said he caught the fish on an Ugly Stick rod and a Shimano reel spooled with 30-pound test line.
Anderson's bait? "Family secret," he said.
The World's Largest Blue Catfish measures 57 inches long and 43.5 inches around -- "a girth that almost matches the average mall Santa," The Herald writes, adding that it weighs "as much as a baby giraffe, a moped or a Japanese wrestler named Takuya Sugi."
The State Record Fish Committee of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries reviewed the application and verified the location of the catch, along with the species, weight, length, and girth of the fish.
A VDGIF conservation police officer and fisheries biologist were present at the weigh-in.
Extensive efforts were made to keep this one alive. "We kept him alive as long as we could," Anderson said. "He wasn't doing great. It was hard, because we've always caught and released. I really wanted to let him go so somebody else could catch him.
The fish's fate? It's sitting in a freezer, "waiting to be mounted and immortalized in fish stories that will require no exaggeration," The Herald writes.
