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95lb Blue Catfish - Caught and
Released in SC
Posted Saturday, October 30, 2004 - 10:02 pm
By Scott Keepfer
OUTDOORS EDITOR
skeepfer@greenvillenews.com
 Lance Larson prepares to release his 95-pound blue catfish back to the
Cooper River. GREENVILLE NEWS / File
There's nothing in the world wrong with the catfish of Lake Hartwell,
Lance Larson says, but like most serious catfishermen, nothing compares to
his semi-annual pilgrimage to mecca, er Santee Cooper.
Larson, 42, of Starr, always has been enamored by big fish of all types,
but it is giant catfish that really float his boat. He's been targeting
them for about a dozen years now ever since reading about George Lijewski
catching a then-world record 109-pound blue catfish at Santee Cooper in
1991.
He heads to Santee every April and October "because that's when the
weather's the mildest," he says and spends a week enjoying wildlife,
patrolling the waters of the Cooper River, and fishing from late morning
to late night.
"October has always been real good to me down there," Larson said.
But never as good as it was this year.
On the first afternoon of his first day of fishing, Larson hooked into the
biggest cat of his life. He reeled it up, then it went down. Repeatedly.
The good news was that the fish didn't try to run out, away from its hole.
"I knew I had a good fish," Larson said. "But that could mean 50 pounds.
When I first got a glimpse of it, my knees about buckled. I began thinking
70 pounds."
After about a 20-minute battle and one missed netting opportunity, Larson
and fishing partner Ed Chastain
finally netted the huge cat, each grabbing
one end of the net and dragging it up and over the rail of the boat.
Larson weighed the fish on certified scales and his knees really buckled
the blue cat tipped the scales at 95 pounds.
After taking plenty of photographs, he released the fish. When he returned
to Atkins Landing his regular jumping-off accommodation near the Pinnopolis Dam they eyed him skeptically. So Larson quickly drove to a
one-hour photo processor.
When he showed them the photographs, the refrain was the same.
"They said, 'We can't believe you released that fish, you idiot,'" Larson
said.
But since Larson knew that the fish would fall some 14 pounds short of the
state record, he figured he might as well release the fish, which is
believed to rank as the second-largest blue cat ever caught in South
Carolina. Larson's catch also would best the current record in 40 states.
"I had some mixed emotions for a while, but I'm glad I did it," Larson
said. "I feel good about that fish still being in the river. If it was a
big female, it's going to lay thousands of eggs.
"And I think there's a strong gene pool with these catfish. Not all of
them grow up to be monsters."
Continuing his trip of good fortune, Larson wrapped up his week-long stay
by catching a 60-pound blue cat on his final day. His fishing partner for
the final three days, Central's Mac Martin, hooked up with another big cat
48 pounds simultaneously.
"We had a 108-pound double," Larson said. "I don't think that'll ever
happen again."
They released both of those fish, too. Larson does enjoy keeping and
eating some of his catfish, to be sure, but he says smaller fish in the
5-10 pound range are best for that.
And because he targets the big fish by using large hooks and large baits
typically cut mullet or cut herring he seldom catches anything small,
which is just the way he likes it.
"I really get fired up about trying to catch world-class catfish," Larson
said. "In that current, a big fish can spool you if you don't play him
just right. I really like that challenge."
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