That’s a big fish!  A Wayne County man has broken a state fishing record.  The North Carolina Wildlife and Resources Commission says Tyler Barnes of Pikeville was fishing on the Neuse River on July 20^th when he reeled in a 78-pound, 14-ounce flathead catfish.  The flathead cat measured 52-inches in length and 37-inches in girth.  Barnes had the fish weighed on certified scales at EZ Bait & Tackle in Goldsboro.  Barnes’ catch breaks the previous North Carolina freshwater fish state record for a flathead catfish, which was previously a 78-pound flathead that was caught from the Cape Fear River in 2005.

This is the second record setting catfish caught this month in North Carolina.  On July 5^th, Joey Baird of Lawrenceville, Virginia, caught a 121-pound, 9-ounce blue catfish from Six Pound Creek at Lake Gaston.