Record Blue Catfish Caught at Lake Worth

New record on Dec. 19, 2011 breaks old record set Dec. 23, 2001.

A new North Texas resident holds the new record for a record blue catfish at Lake Worth with a blue catfish weighing more than 70 lbs.

Tim McKneely and Mark Alexander say they often fish overnight from the banks of Lake Worth and headed out to fish late Sunday night.

At 8 a.m. on Monday they hooked a whopper, it was the one that didn't get away.

"When I did see that big tail swirl up, I grabbed the net and I jumped in there," said Alexander. "I would have bear hugged it if I had to to get it on the bank."

The men fought to bring the massive blue catfish onto the shore and realized they might have a shot at the lake record.

They used their phone to search the internet and found the number for the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department Inland Fisheries Office below the dam at Lake Worth.

TPW biologists brought tools to record the catch with them and certified the giant fish was 72 lbs., breaking the old lake record of 55 lbs.

The big blue catfish measured 4 feet long and had a girth of 35 inches.

After all the measurements and photos were taken, the new Lake Worth monster was released to fight another day.

McKneely just moved Lewisville from Central Texas. Even before landing the big fish, he and Alexander were having a good night on the lake. At one point they had three fish on at the same time weighing 32 lbs., 25 lbs., and 10 lbs.

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