The post Heavier Than a Feral Hog: The 113-Pound ‘River Monster’ That Put a South Carolina Lake on the Map appeared first on A-Z Animals.

South Carolina’s largest rod-and-reel blue catfish weighed 113.8 pounds and was caught in Lake Moultrie in 2017.

An even larger 136-pound blue catfish was pulled from Lake Moultrie on a trotline but did not qualify for the state record.

Blue catfish are the largest catfish species native to North America and can grow longer than 5 feet.

South Carolina is widely known for its great fishing opportunities. Anglers from all over the state and far beyond enjoy settling in at their favorite spots to pull freshwater and saltwater fish from the waters. This state, nestled along the Atlantic Ocean, has been the site of some truly enormous trophy fish catches. Discover the largest blue catfish ever caught in South Carolina and learn where it was caught and how long ago the angler set the record!

The blue catfish is the largest species of catfish in North America. The fish are native to the Mississippi River drainage basin, but they have been introduced to many other lakes and rivers throughout the United States. The species has been widely introduced outside its native range and now occurs in numerous states across the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, and beyond.

These ray-finned fish can weigh anywhere from 25 to 150 pounds while growing between 24 inches and 65 inches. Despite their name, the fish can appear from a silvery-blue to an olive color along their sides with a white bottom. They are known for having deeply forked tails, flat dorsal fins, and four pairs of barbels near their mouths.

Blue catfish can grow upwards of 5 feet long or more!

©M Huston/Shutterstock.com

These fish prefer to live in the main channels of medium and large rivers, along with large impoundments with a current and some depth to them. They prefer areas with sand, gravel, or mud bottoms.

These fish are well-loved by anglers because they fight so hard when they’re on the line, presenting a real challenge to those catching them. For a state with so many people who enjoy catching fish, it should come as no surprise that fishers have found several large specimens in South Carolina’s waters.

The largest blue catfish ever caught in South Carolina weighed 113.8 pounds, and it was caught by an angler named Paula D. Haney of Liberty, South Carolina. She pulled the record-setting fish from Lake Moultrie in 2017, topping the previous record.

The blue catfish that Paula D. Haney caught was 113.8 pounds, measured 52 inches long, and had a girth of 40 inches. Haney was fishing on the lower end of the lake using blue herring as bait. The fish took the bait around 9:30 a.m. in relatively shallow water that was perhaps 10 feet deep. She furiously reeled in the fish before getting it alongside the pontoon boat she and her husband had used to get out on the water.

When the fish got close enough, they brought it onboard. Paula and her husband knew they had something special on the line, and a biologist later confirmed it as the largest catfish caught on rod and reel in the state.

The former record belonged to a man named George Lijewski. He caught a massive catfish in 1991 that weighed 109.4 pounds.

Lake Moultrie is located in the south-central part of South Carolina within Berkeley County. The lake is located in Berkeley County, roughly 30 miles north of downtown Charleston, and is accessible via U.S. Route 52.

Lake Moultrie is one of the largest lakes in South Carolina, featuring about 60,400 acres of surface water and a maximum depth of roughly 75 feet. The lake has an average depth of about 19 feet.

The lake is a popular attraction for locals, especially those that enjoy fishing. They come to this lake to catch blue catfish, largemouth bass, channel catfish, and more. Several record-setting fish have been caught in these waters. An angler named W.H. Whaley caught a 58-pound channel catfish from this lake in 1964, a catch that has long been recognized as one of the largest channel catfish ever recorded.

So, catching large fish in this lake is not unusual at all.

The record books only accept blue catfish caught on a hook and line.

©Jkbigbass / CC BY-SA 4.0 – Original / License

Although the record books clearly say that Paula D. Haney’s 113.8-pound blue catfish is the largest one ever caught in the state, another entry could just as easily exist with an asterisk. Two fishermen named Leland Selph and Jimmy Dowling caught a blue catfish weighing 136 pounds 6 ounces. The fish was 56 inches long and had a girth of 42 inches.

Oddly enough, this monster fish was also caught on Lake Moultrie. Unfortunately, the fishermen caught the fish on a 150-hook trotline rather than a hook and line. That method disqualified the fish from appearing in the record books.

The catch was impressive nonetheless since the men had to pull the fish from the water without losing it. Also, that catch shows that fish much larger than the state record lurk below the water at Lake Moultrie.

Feral hogs are large animals that cause many problems in the areas they infest.

©Chase D'animulls/Shutterstock.com

The original comparison of the largest blue catfish versus a feral hog is somewhat apt. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average feral swine weighs somewhere between 75 and 250 pounds. Much larger specimens exist, too. So, the record-setting blue catfish in South Carolina could weigh more than a small feral hog. At least, it would be heavier and longer. So, the 113.8-pound blue catfish would weigh about the same as a small feral hog, though their body shapes and proportions are very different.

The largest blue catfish ever caught in South Carolina using a hook and line was simply massive. However, catches on a trotline showed that larger, heavier fish than the record-holder exist in the famous Lake Moultrie. Anglers continue to take up the challenge of catching these incredibly large specimens. With so many record-setting fish caught in these waters, it is not unlikely that some anglers will set a new record. When they do, the chances also seem pretty high that the record-setting fish will be pulled from the same lake!

The post Heavier Than a Feral Hog: The 113-Pound ‘River Monster’ That Put a South Carolina Lake on the Map appeared first on A-Z Animals.