Fisherman Tim Trone poses with his record blue catfish, which takes up most of a pickup truck's tailgate.

Fisherman Tim Trone poses with his record blue catfish, which takes up most of a pickup truck's tailgate.

Credit: Tim Bonvechio

A fisherman from Florida has caught a record-shattering blue catfish in Georgia’s Chattahoochee River. The fish caught by Tim Trone of Havana, Florida, beat the previous state record by more than 17 pounds.

It’s not uncommon to break a fishing record for a particular river or lake. But catching a fish that breaks a statewide record is rare, only happening about once a year.

The previous blue catfish record was set three years ago.

Biologist Bert Deener with the Department of Natural Resources called this fish a “monster” at nearly 5 feet long and more than 110 pounds.

“We rarely see...catfish over 50 or 60 pounds,” he said. “So this — this is a unique fish.”

Deener said the fish was 23 years old. A typical blue catfish in Georgia weighs between one and 20 pounds.

Anglers can track fishing records at GoFishGeorgia.com.

Tags: Department of Natural Resources  Georgia  Atlanta  Macon  Savannah  outdoors