Hot Pink Barbie Rod Snags NC State Record Channel Cat

In a post about five months ago, I stated that the NC state record channel catfish was "ripe for catching" because the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission had invalidated the long-held state record. The old record held by Pete Paine since 1971 was decertified after a photograph of his catch was published in Wildlife of North Carolina magazine and several readers correctly identified the fish as a flathead catfish.

Well, a new record has now been established AND it was caught on a hot pink 2-1/2 foot Barbie fishing rod! It took Davis Hayes 25 minutes to reel in the 32-inch, 21 pound 1 ounce catfish. While he usually uses a "real" fishing rod and reel, he was fishing in a pond in his back yard with his granddaughter Alyssa's fishing gear while she was in the house taking a potty break.

Hayes plans to have the catfish mounted, along with the pink rod (Happily, Lauren Dougherty, a spokeswoman for Mattel, said she's sending a new Barbie rod and reel to Alyssa). The previous record for channel catfish was an 18-pound, 5-ounce specimen caught in August 2007 by Wesley Trucks from New Bern using a Tsunami rod and a Shimano 6500 Bait Runner reel with deep-sea gear, including 100-pound test line. "If you use smaller gear, you'll never get a big catfish to the boat," Trucks said in a 2007 news release announcing his record-breaking catch. Obviously the catfish are not listening to Mr. Trucks. Barbie on Alyssa...

North Carolina to Offer Trout Unlimited License Plates

If North Carolina Trout Unlimited can get 300 fisherman to pre-purchase a Back The Brookie license plate, the state of North Carolina will add the design to a growing number of special interest plates already offered. You can reserve yours today by filling out the application and mailing it along with a check for $20.

NC State Record Channel Catfish Ripe For Catching

In May 2005, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission invalidated the long-held state record channel catfish. The old record held by Pete Paine since 1971 was decertified after a photograph of his catch was published in Wildlife of North Carolina magazine and several readers correctly identified the fish as a flathead catfish.

At that time, North Carolina set the minimum weight for a new state record at 20 pounds. Since then, however, no one has been able to catch a 20 pound channel catfish in North Carolina and after eliminating the minimum weight requirement, several state records have been turned in. The current record is 18.5 pounds caught by Wesley Trucks on the Neuse River. Wesley was using cut eel as bait and since this species of catfish apparently does not have keen eyesight, the bigger and smellier the bait the better.

This may be your best chance ever at catching a new state record - Good luck and happy fishing.

Be Sure to Keep Your Eels

The article below is from the NC Wildlife Resources Commission website:

WANTED - American eels from the Roanoke River basin, upstream of Roanoke Rapids Dam
Dominion (Virginia/North Carolina Power) in cooperation with state and federal resource agencies is investigating the presence of American eels in the Roanoke River upstream of Roanoke Rapids Dam, North Carolina. The study is being conducted as part of a program to provide passage for American eels upstream of dams owned and operated by Dominion. Any eels caught by anglers from the Roanoke (Staunton) River or its tributary streams (including the Hyco, Pigg, and Dan rivers), or from Roanoke Rapids Lake, Lake Gaston, Kerr Reservoir, Leesville Reservoir or Smith Mountain Lake are of interest.

If you catch an American eel from the upper Roanoke River drainage basin, it would benefit the study if you kept the eel and contacted Bob Graham of Dominion at 804 271-5377, or bob.graham@dom.com. Bob will make arrangements with you to collect the eel for scientific study. As soon as possible after catching the eel it should be bagged and frozen. If facilities are not available to freeze the eel, it should be kept on ice. Your cooperation will be greatly appreciated, and will benefit efforts to restore American eels to their historic range. Thank you!