Man Spends 40 Minutes Catching Record-Breaking 131 Pound Fish
By Kristin Myers on April 14, 2022 at 8:00 AM EDT
That’s one big fish!
A man in Mississippi just created a new state record for catching the biggest catfish. The previous record was set by Dakota Hinson in 2009, who caught a 95-pound catfish over ten years ago. On April 7, Eugene Cronley caught a whopping 131 pounds catfish and blew the previous record out of the water.
Cronley said that “It is truly a fish of a lifetime” and explained that he used a rod and reel and skipjack herring bait to catch the fish. However, once he caught it, it took him over forty minutes to reel it in from the Mississippi River.
The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks Fisheries Bureau confirmed the new record and announced it on Facebook on Monday.
Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks Confirms New Fish Record
On Monday, April 11, the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks' official Facebook account confirmed the news of the catch and shared a few photos of the record-breaking fish.
“The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks Fisheries Bureau has certified a new state record blue catfish,” they wrote. “Eugene Cronley, the lucky angler from Brandon, caught the 131-pound fish on April 7, 2022, from the Mississippi River near Natchez. Mr. Cronley said that it took him forty minutes to land the huge fish, ‘it is truly a fish of a lifetime.’”
They continued, “The fish shattered the previous rod and reel record of 95 lbs. caught by Dakota Hinson in 2009 and is larger than the trophy record blue catfish of 101 lbs. caught by the team of Freddie Parker and Brad Smith in 1997. Interestingly, both of those fish were also caught from the Mississippi River near Natchez.”
They added, “Mr. Cronley caught the fish with a rod and reel using skipjack herring as bait.”
The post got over 10,000 reactions, 6,000 comments, and over 42,000 shares, all with differing opinions.
Concerned Individuals Say They Should Have Left The Fish Alone!
Most people were not too impressed by the new record. If anything, many users said that the fish should have been released back into the wild.
“Should have left it alone!” one user wrote. “It survived that long it should have been able to spend the rest of its days happy in the water!! Sad ”
“Wow, that’s unbelievable! I have to say it is a shame that a fish grows to that magnitude and then gets caught and dies. I am a fisherwoman and absolutely love fishing. I understand both sides of this,” another commented.
“I hope they sent him back... he's too big to taste good, and getting that big, he deserves to live,” said another.
“I would have released that one,” another wrote. “He deserved to live!”
“Congratulations to the angler,” another commented. “I know that fish put up quite a fight but in the end, I hope he released her to make more little ones with good genetics that size.”
Another user had an interesting take. They commented, “God is the creator and giver of life. He alone is sovereign and if He wanted this fish to still be alive, it would be. Praise God! Great fish!”
