West Virginia fisherman catches record catfish with child’s rod

Tyler Rutherford set a new state record on July 21 while fishing at his family farm pond in Wayne County, West Virginia, according to a recent announcement from the state Department of Natural Resources. He knew from the moment the fish touched his bait it was a monster, and the big cat easily dethroned the standing record. What’s even more impressive is the tackle Rutherford used to land the leviathan.

Rutherford did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but he said WV MetroNews that he and his daughter were fishing in the pond that afternoon for bluegills and other panfish. They were using a pink Zebco rod and reel combo that he had bought for her for $10 at Academy Sports.

“She’s three and she can reel them in, but she can’t cast them out. So I cast them out to her and held the rod while she sat on my lap,” Rutherford said.

The big channel catfish caught his earthworm on the second cast of the day and he knew right away it was a fish he had to reel in himself.

“I set the hook and there was this big black and blue tail that just fluttered up in the water,” Rutherford said. “My dad immediately said he was going after the net. All three kids went after him screaming.”

The small, light reel was spooled with 6-pound line that was designed to reel in small sunfish and crappie, not record-breaking mud hogs. Rutherford immediately released the drag and tried to let the big cat tire itself out. It was a long, arduous ordeal.

“For most of the fight, there was nothing I could do but hold her and hope her little sandpaper teeth didn’t scrape through the line,” Rutherford said. “Every time she got within 10 or 15 yards of the bank, it was like she knew she was going to get caught and she was going to run again.”

Fearing that the fish wouldn’t fit in the net if he got it close enough to the shore, a weary Rutherford waded into the water to scoop up the tired cat with his bare hands.

“Even when I finally got her, I was so tired from staggering. Dad and I grabbed her and rolled her onto the limestone rock. It was all we could do to get her to shore,” he said. “It was absolutely the fight of my life.”

West Virginia Department of Natural Resources biologist Jeff Hansbarger and assistant fisheries biologist Jake Whalen traveled to the small farm pond to weigh and measure Rutherford’s catch. Rutherford had already put a stringer through the catfish’s mouth and held it in deep water until they arrived.

The massive channel catfish weighed 46.7 pounds and measured 43.51 inches long, more than enough to break the standing weight and length records. The two state records were previously held by Allen Burkett; he set the length record in 2022 and the weight record in 2023. Both catfish were caught in South Mill Creek Lake in Grant County.

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After Rutherford’s mud sample was officially weighed and measured, he carefully released the beast back into the family pond.

“I jumped in the water for about 10 or 15 minutes just to resuscitate her,” he said Metro News. “She was exhausted, but thankfully the good Lord wanted the legend to live on. She was able to go back to where she could go and back again. She is alive and well.”