Keith Lusher 11.24.25
A Georgia angler preventing most cancers discovered an surprising enhance of hope on Lake Hartwell when he landed a large blue catfish that now stands because the reservoir’s official document.
Robert Jason Bailey, 52, has spent most of his life fishing the sprawling 56,000 acre lake on the Georgia-South Carolina line. After being identified with colon most cancers in 2024, he started leaning much more on time open air, particularly journeys along with his longtime buddy Dwayne “Doodle” Peppers. The 2 fish, Peppers’ dock, usually made a behavior of concentrating on huge blues.
“Doodle tries to get me out of the home as a lot as potential,” Bailey stated. “We now have been mates for a very long time, and he has been there for me by way of this complete factor.”
On the morning of October 24, the pair settled onto the dock with their Mad Katz rods, contemporary blueback herring, and the identical setup that has produced a number of massive fish for them lately. Peppers even stunned Bailey with a brand new Mad Katz outfit final yr after listening to about his analysis.
“We began catching medium-sized cats after which actually began specializing in huge ones,” Bailey stated. “That morning I used thirty-pound mono and a four-ought circle hook with a head and intestine part of herring.”
Their strains have been set for only some minutes when Bailey’s reel started clicking. What began as just a few faucets on the road become a blistering run in a few second.
“That catfish took off like nothing I’ve ever heard earlier than,” Bailey stated. “It ripped off half the road on my reel and simply stored going.”
Bailey fought the fish for roughly half-hour, working it to the dock a number of instances earlier than it surged again towards deep cowl. Brush, timber, and the dock pilings made the struggle even tougher because the fish dove beneath the platform.
“Doodle thought I had a turtle for some time,” Bailey joked. “However as soon as I acquired it shut the second time and noticed it underneath the dock, I knew it was huge.”
Peppers ultimately managed to web the catfish head first, and the 2 males sat in shocked silence on the dock, staring on the huge blue cat. Bailey stopped fishing instantly afterward as a result of he needed to get to a medical appointment in Athens.
After just a few telephone calls, they have been directed to the Georgia DNR’s Burton Trout Hatchery in Clarkesville for an official weight and measurement. The fish measured 45.25 inches and weighed 53 kilos, 8 ounces, breaking the earlier Lake Hartwell blue catfish document from 2003 by greater than 20 kilos.
“Folks on-line have been saying they caught greater ones, however you must get it weighed,” Bailey stated. “My dad handed away final yr and I want he might have seen this. We used to fish collectively on a regular basis.”
For Bailey, the document is greater than a trophy. It’s a reminder of why time on the water issues.
“There may be not a lot better than catfishing with household and mates,” he stated.
