Long-standing blue catfish state record falls

PIERRE — The second-longest state fish record in South Dakota, a blue catfish caught by Edward Elliot in 1959, is a thing of the past.

On July 21, Steve Lemmon from Elk Point grabbed his own place in the record books by landing a 99-pound, 4-ounce blue catfish from the Big Sioux River, edging out the previous record by 2 pounds, 4 ounces.

With the aid of only a rod, reel and a creek chub for bait, Lemmon managed to wrangle in the trophy fish from his fishing hole in Union County.

His fish stacks up well with those from nearby states. The Nebraska state record blue catfish weighed in at 100 pounds, 8 ounces while neighboring Iowa currently boasts a state record blue catfish of 101 pounds. Kansas, a state known for having some large catfish, has a slightly smaller state-record blue cat weighing it at 94 pounds even.

Tags: outdoors, sports, fishing, updates