The S.C. Department of Natural Resources is in the process of certifying as a new state record a 12-pound, 2.9-ounce white catfish caught June 23 by Charles Earp of West Columbia. According to SCDNR, Earp was on an overnight trip, fishing off of Spence’s Point, when the record fish hit a treble-hooked sponge slathered with Sonny’s Super Sticky Catfish dip bait around 3 a.m. Earp was fishing in 6 to 8 feet of water at the time of the catch.
The state record was weighed on a set of registered, digital scales at Old Timey Meat Market off Airport Rd in Columbia. Ron Ahle, a fisheries biologist with SCDNR, is processing the paperwork to have the fish entered as the new state record for white catfish; Ahle said he and Leo Rose, SCDNR’s hatcheries coordinator, both viewed the fish to confirm its identity.
“The fish was easily identifiable as a white catfish by its head and several characteristics we use to distinguish one catfish from the other,” Ahle said. “A white catfish has a forked tail like a channel and a blue catfish, but the fork is very shallow, very typical for a white catfish, which is the largest member of the bullhead family of catfish.” Continue reading…..
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