John Tyler Rutherford / WVDNR
A West Virginia fisherman pulled off an impressive feat when he reeled in a new state fishing record for channel catfish, a 46.70-pound, 43.51-inch behemoth.
Breaking any fishing record is impressive but doing it in the way John Tyler Rutherford is particularly special because he reeled in his record-setting catfish using a neon pink $9.99 fishing rod he bought for his 3-year-old daughter who isn’t able to cast it herself yet.
This fish that was confirmed by the WVDNR as a new state record is a BEAST:
John Tyler Rutherford / WVDNR
After the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (WVDNR) announced John Tyler Rutherford’s new state fishing record, Rutherford spoke with WV Metro News about fishing with his daughter’s rod. He said “I got my daughter a little $9.99 pink rod and reel from Zebco at Academy Sports. She’s three and she can reel them in, but she can’t cast it out. So I cast it out for her and I was holding the rod and she was sitting on my lap.”
On his second cast with $9.99 neon pink fishing rod with a nightcrawler worm on his hook something big ate his bait. Rutherford says “I set the hook and there was a big black and blue tail that flopped up in the water and my dad immediately said he was going after the net. All three kids took off screaming after him.”
Anyone who has fished with one of these tiny kids fishing rods knows how flimsy they are. This one in particular only had 6lb test line on the reel and was rigged up for catching bluegill, not 46+ pound catfish.
Rutherford says of the battle with his record catfish “pretty much for most of the fight there was nothing I could do but hold her and hope her little sandpaper teeth didn’t grind through the line. Every time she got within ten or 15 yards of the bank it was like she knew she was about to be caught and she’d take another big run. It was definitely the fight of my life.”
Unable to secure the fish with a net, he opted to walk into the lake and grab it with his bare hands to finish the fight. He says it took him and his father to roll the 46.7-pound catfish onto the rocks.
At that point, he contacted members of the West Virginia DNR about measuring his fish. They came out to inspect the record catfish and after that he says he spent 10-15 minutes reviving the fish. After being caught and up to this point he had the channel catfish tied up on a stringer so reviving it was a bit of a challenge.
But all’s well that ends well and Rutherford says “She was exhausted, but thankfully the Good Lord wanted the legend to live on. She was able to get herself back to where she was able to go back and forth on her own. She’s alive and well.”
It really blows my mind that he could catch this fish with that tiny kid’s rod. I picked up one for my son not too long ago and I’m fairly certain it snapped in half just leaning against a wall. They are flimsy. The reels have ZERO stopping power even during the times they’re working. But this man somehow managed to use one to haul in a state record catfish. It’s incredible!