How do you know you've landed an absolute monster? When it's too big for you to hold! Corky Lemon stands center in this shot with a 35 pound blue cat while his potential state record blue behemoth is to the left, being hoisted up by Dick Hinrichsen. To the right is Terry Matheny with his 71 pound monster.
August 02, 2012
By Game & Fish Staff
Corky Lemon and his fishing partner, Terry Matheny, had a magical day on the water on July 21st, as participants in a Big Sioux Catfish league event.
While their fish count number wasn't all that impressive -- four fish between the two of them -- the total weight of their haul -- 210.25 pounds -- was incredible, including a potential new South Dakota state record blue cat that weighed a scale-breaking 99.25 pounds!
According to the Sioux City Journal , Corkey and Matheny were dropping their bait into a pair of deep and dirty holes around the west entrance of Stone Park when Matheny hauled in a 71-pound blue cat followed by Lemon's 99.25-pound whiskerfish. The pair also brought home another 35-pound blue and a five-pound channel cat.
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The 99 pounder was a load for Lemon.
"That fish just about pulled me out of the boat," Lemon reports. "I've never had a fish pull that hard in all my life."
After landing the massive cat, the pair hauled the fish back in and had it weighed on a certified scale and have since applied to the South Dakota Game and Fish and Parks for state-record certification.
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If certified, Lemon's blue cat would break a 43-year-old record that was held by Edward B. Elliot, who caught a 97-pounder on the Missouri river in 1969.
The world-record blue cat -- a 143 pound dump-truck-sized-monster -- was caught just last year on Buggs Island Lake, Virginia by Nick Anderson.
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