He reeled in a record-breaking ‘monster’ catch — nearly as big as him, official says
Jeffrey Dill has caught his fair share of big fish.
A quick look at Dill's Facebook page shows the Virginia man proudly displaying his trophy catches in a series of photos over the years.
As impressive as many of the images are — and there are lots of big fish pictured — none compare to one of Dill's most recent catches.
That's because Dill set a record when he hauled in a massive flathead catfish while out fishing last weekend. Dill battled the massive fish and broke a 24-year-old record for largest flathead catfish caught in the Virginia Beach area, cbsnews.com reported.
Using a run-of-the-mill rod he bought at Walmart for $20, Dill battled the catfish for more than 15 minutes after first feeling a tug on the end of his line, according to gearjunkie.com.
Dill knew he had caught a massive fish as he finally prevailed and pulled it out of the water.
"I put him on the dock, held him down for a minute. He was so big," Dill said of the catfish, which he named "Big Earle," nbc4i.com reported.
That was not the end of the line for "Big Earle."
Dill took him to Oceans East Bait and Tackle to be measured by a biologist from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, according to Fox News.
"Jeffrey Dill with his new state record flathead catfish caught out of Lake Smith! It weighed a whopping 68.8 lbs!" Oceans East Bait and Tackle wrote on its Facebook page.
"It was a monster. It was a true river monster," Chad Boyce, a fisheries biologist, told nbc4i.com. "It was a big fish that you don't expect to see in this part of the state, especially in Lake Smith. That's definitely a trophy."
The previous record for largest flathead catfish caught in Virginia was a 66.4 pounder that was hooked in 1994 at the Occoquan Reservoir in Northern Virginia, according to the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
Like any good fisherman, Dill is embracing the attention for his record catch.
"I talked with some of my older buddies, and they said some people fish their whole lives and never get close to a state record," Dill said, cbsnews.com reported. "It's a big deal. I'm very proud."
As massive as "Big Earle" is, he is half the size of the largest flathead catfish ever caught. The world angling record flathead catfish was caught May 14, 1998, in Elk City Reservoir, in Kansas. It weighed 123 pounds, 9 ounces, according to Wikipedia.
This past March, the South Carolina record was smashed when a man reeled in an 84-pound, 9.6-ounce flathead catfish in the Cooper River, carolinasportsman.com reported. According to ncwildlife.org, the record in North Carolina waters is 78 pounds, which was caught in the Cape Fear River in 2005.
Though those record fish are all larger than "Big Earle," commenters are still sharing their amazement.
"Goooood God THAT’S a biggin’! .... ya neva know what’s under you!" one person wrote in a comment on the Oceans East Bait and Tackle Facebook post, which has more than a thousand comments, reactions and shares. Another person posted: "How many ducks that thing got in its belly?"
This story was originally published June 3, 2018 at 4:54 PM with the headline "He reeled in a record-breaking ‘monster’ catch — nearly as big as him, official says."