Record Setting 131-Pound Catfish Caught In Mississippi

Mississippi has a new state record catfish, weighing 131 pounds. The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks Fisheries Bureau announced the new record Monday. 

The fish was caught by Eugene Cronley on April 7. An angler, Cronley said he used a rod and reel and skipjack herring bait to catch the fish, which took him almost 40 minutes to reel in from the Mississippi River. 

The 131-pound fish "shattered" the previous rod and reel record of a 95-pound catfish, caught by Dakota Hinson in 2009. According to the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks Fisheries Bureau, the record-setting fish caught by Hinson, Cronley and the trophy record 101 pound blue catfish caught in 1997 by Freddie Parker and Brad Smith were all caught in the same part of the Mississippi River near Natchez. 

"It is truly a fish of a lifetime," Cronley said.