John Nichols, of Samantha, didn’t hook just any old fish on his outing to Holt Reservoir in March. The cat on his line was a 120-pound blue catfish, the new state record catch, according to conservation authorities. Nichols made it official by taking his catch to the Tuscaloosa Scale Co. Inc., where the weigh-in was recorded with multiple witnesses, then certified by Jay Haffner, the district fisheries biologist, according to Game and Fish magazine.
Nichols’ 120-pounder beat the old Alabama record of 111 pounds but falls short of the world record, a 143-pounder caught last year in Virginia.
By Nedra Bloom
