Badin produced state-record blue catfish

Eric Fincher’s 89-pound blue catfish, caught Nov. 25, 2006 from Badin Lake, is the reigning state record for the species.

Editor’s note: this is an archived article from 2014. The state record for blue catfish has been broken several times since this article was published. Click here to read about Rocky Baker’s current NC state record blue catfish, caught in 2021.

North Carolina’s state-record blue catfish weighed 89 pounds and was caught in Badin Lake on Nov. 25, 2006, by Eric Fincher. It replaced an 85-pound fish that had been caught in Lake Norman in 2004.

Fincher, who was striper fishing, caught the big catfish on a live shiner fished 18 feet deep in a section of the lake that was 43 feet deep. He was fishing an Eagle Claw medium-action rod, with an Abu Garcia 6500 reel and 15-pound line.

Editor’s note: this is an archived article from 2014. The state record for blue catfish has been broken several times since this article was published. Click here to read about Rocky Baker’s current NC state record blue catfish, caught in 2021.

Fincher was unable to find a set of certified scales the afternoon he caught the fish. He wanted to weigh the fish but not kill it, so he made a makeshift holding tank by damming a small creek at his father-in-law’s house and held the fish there overnight until it could be weighed on a certified scale and identified by a N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission biologist.

After the fish was weighed and certified, Fincher took it back to Badin Lake and released it.

Editor’s note: this is an archived article from 2014. The state record for blue catfish has been broken several times since this article was published. Click here to read about Rocky Baker’s current NC state record blue catfish, caught in 2021.

About Jerry Dilsaver 1168 Articles
Jerry Dilsaver of Oak Island, N.C., a full-time freelance writer, is a columnist for Carolina Sportsman. He is a former SKA National Champion and USAA Angler of the Year.

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