Man who never caught a fish over 20 pounds hauled in a likely state-record 113.7-pound flathead catfish

Joe Driggers, 29, a police sergeant in Florence, South Carolina, has spent much of his life fishing on the Great Pee Dee River, but never approached reeling in a fish within 60 pounds of the state record.

Now he appears headed for the state record books after landing a flathead catfish that weighed a remarkable 113.7 pounds, as Wired2fish reported.

What happened?

Fishing near Florence with his younger brothers, Sam and Judd, Driggers had the boat set up beside a sandbar and a deep hole in about 30 feet of water, using cut bream, when one of their stout rods suddenly bent hard, as he told the outlet. 

From there, the fish surged downriver, then turned and stayed glued to the bottom, Wired2fish reported.

Because of the speed and force of the run, Driggers initially thought the fish was a blue catfish, like a 10-pound one the brothers had caught earlier, per the site. Only when it rose next to the boat did he realize it was a massive flathead.

"I yelled — 'Oh, that's a good fish' — when it came up and I saw it," Driggers told Wired2fish. "I'd never caught a fish over 20 pounds until this one showed."

After resourcefully hauling the fish into the boat by hand, the brothers drove off to get an official weight, the outlet said.

It was first checked on a cotton bale scale, but that wouldn't be sufficient to certify a record. 

Later, state biologists met them at Georgetown Landing Marina, where the fish was officially recorded at 59 inches long with a 43-inch girth and a weight of 113.7 pounds, Wired2fish reported.

The catch thus tops the existing South Carolina flathead catfish record of 84 pounds, 9.6 ounces by a wide margin. 

What are people saying?

Driggers actually wanted to put the fish back in the water, but Wired2fish said the trip required a certified weigh-in, plus biological sampling, leaving it unable to survive.

"The biologists took some of the fish's spines for samples and the cat's otoliths so they could age it," he told the outlet.

Still, the brothers were making sure that the huge fish wouldn't go to waste.

"We're having the family over tonight to enjoy some of those catfish fillets," Joe revealed to Wired2fish.

Given the size of the thing, they might need to invite the entire neighborhood over, or they'll have plenty of leftovers.

Get TCD's free newsletters for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here.