Rocky Baker has a bar story for life.
Last Saturday, the North Carolina fisherman reeled in a 127-pound catfish, and it might just be the largest ever caught in the state.
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As FOX News reported, while catching the fish was hard, actually getting it weighed on a certified scale by an official was almost as difficult.
A state biologist has certified the weight and measurements, and the paperwork is in the mail.
Baker was out on the Roanoke River with friend Justin Clifton when the two reeled in the big fish around 9:30 p.m. Baker claims he didn’t realize how big the thing was until they got it flopped down into the boat where he said it looked like a whale. And he knows he wouldn’t have been able to pull it in without Clifton being there too.
The two aimed to throw the fish back into its home, but definitely wanted to figure out the weight first.
By the time they got it over to the E-Z Bait and Tackle shop, who had a certified scale, it was 1:30 a.m. The respectful and very patient sportsmen were somehow able to keep the fish alive the whole time until the state biologist who could certify showed up at 5:30 a.m.
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While it was slightly lighter than Baker initially thought, it is still the state record.
As for the fish, Baker released it back into the river after everything was finalized. The last he saw the fish, it was swimming back down to the bottom of the water.
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