BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C.—At 68-years-old, Gene Bell recently caught the biggest catfish in his entire life along the waters of Santee Cooper.
Last week while on the Diversion Canal in Berkeley County, the avid fisherman reeled in a 94-pound, 2-ounce blue catfish. Talk about a whopper!
“I left Hill’s Landing about 9:30 p.m. and already had two fish in the 20s in the bottom of the boat,” Bell told South Carolina Sportsman recently. “The fish hit, and it took me 45 minutes to get it to the boat, then I had to figure out how I was going to net it.”
According to Bell, he nearly lost the fish trying to get it in the net.
“My heart just sank, but she stayed on, and I got her in the net then had to slowly roll the net up over the side of the boat,” he stated.
Fishing for 40 years, the biggest catfish he had ever caught before now weighed in at 74 pounds—still not too shabby.
Bell, who lives in Rock Hill, told the magazine that moving water through the canal after spring rains is always good for catching trophy blue catfish. The ocean herring are moving through the lakes, and the catfish follow, he stated.
To read more about Bell’s big catch, click here.
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