The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) State Record Fish Committee recently confirmed that a 143-pound blue catfish is a new state record. This is the second time the state record for blue catfish has been broken in 2011.

The enormous blue catfish was caught by Richard Nicholas "Nick" Anderson in John H. Kerr Reservoir (Buggs Island Lake) on Saturday, June 18.

At 143 pounds and 57 inches in length with a girth of 43.5 inches the new state record blue catfish is noteably larger than the previous Virginia state record blue catfish.

The monster blue catfish is the third confirmed freshwater fish over 100 pounds caught in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

If certified by the International Game Fish Association (IGFA), the Virginia blue catfish will shatter the previous world record, a 130-pound blue catfish caught in the Missouri River in 2010.

source: Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries