'Monster': Tennessee Fisherman Catch Enormous Blue Catfish, Throws it Back

A gargantuan blue catfish weighing nearly 120 lbs and dubbed a "monster" has been captured in Tennessee.

The 54 inch long fish was released back into the Cumberland River from which it was caught after its measurements were taken.

"Now, this is a big blue!" said the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency in a Facebook post sharing images of the fish.

"Micka Burkhart caught a monster blue cat yesterday at 12:30 p.m. on the Cumberland River in Stewart County on skipjack and a 30-pound test line! The 118-pound 7-ounce blue cat will be a new Tennessee record pending verification and certification."

Blue catfish are the largest species of catfish in the U.S., and are native to the Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Rio Grande river basins, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The largest specimen ever caught, reeled in at the Virginia–North Carolina border, weighed in at 143 pounds. They are a popular sports fish due to their size, and have been introduced around the U.S. for recreational fishing.

Blue catfish prey upon a variety of species including worms, clams, mussels, insects, frogs, smaller fish, and crustaceans. They have sensory tissues on their whisker-like barbels and skin that allows the catfish to detect prey by "tasting" the water nearby.

Females are capable of producing between 4,000 and 8,000 eggs per kilogram of body weight, with both females and males providing some degree of parental care after spawning. According to Animal Diversity Web, the male catfish forces the female away from the nest after fertilizing the eggs, where he organizes, protects and guards the eggs and subsequent fry.

Blue catfish are preyed upon by a variety of seabirds, as well as members of their own species. They have specialized spinal barbs on some of their fins to protect themselves from predators, which can inject toxins into their captor.

Blue catfish are considered invasive species in Chesapeake Bay on the eastern Virginia and Maryland coast. Due to their low mortality rate, large body size, high rate of reproduction and range of predation, the catfish have exploded in population in the area, resulting in impacts on the other native wildlife.

In some tributaries of Chesapeake Bay, blue catfish were measured to make up 75 percent of the total fish biomass.

Blue crabs, which are a large component of the catfish's diets, represent the most valuable fishery in the Chesapeake Bay.

However, the large populations of blue catfish has resulted in a booming recreational fishing economy, according to Animal Diversity Web.

The current Tennessee state record is a 112 lb fish also caught in the Cumberland River in 1998, meaning that after being verified, the new 118 lb monster catch will be the new record-holder.

Burkhart also posted pictures and videos of his catch to Facebook, showing himself attempting to raise the fish into the boat with a net, and another trying and failing to lift it off the ground.

"So this fish I cannot lift completely off the ground," he said in one of the videos as he attempted to weigh the fish.

"This fish is massive," a woman can be heard saying after Burkhart puts the fish back down.

"I am truly blessed to have family and friends that stopped everything to help with this fish," Burkhart wrote in the caption of the Facebook post.