West Virginia Dad Catches State Record 46-Pound Catfish Using His Daughter’s $10 Pink Fishing Pole

This just goes to show that fishing equipment isn’t everything.

Sometimes, it’s more about being in the right place at the right time. This West Virginia dad would certainly tell you that after he reeled in a state record catfish with a fishing rod that he bought for the low price of $10.

Tyler Rutherford was fishing with his kids at his farm’s pond when a fun family activity turned into a historic moment. The rod, which was outfitted to catch bluegill/crappie, ended up luring something in that was much, much bigger, as the father told West Virginia Outdoors:

“I got my daughter a little $9.99 pink rod and reel from Zebco at Academy Sports. She’s three and she can reel them in, but she can’t cast it out. So I cast it out for her and I was holding the rod and she was sitting on my lap.”

Crazily enough, something big started tugging on the line, so Rutherford took over the pink fishing pole to try and bring it in. Due to the limited capacity of the rod, the dad was forced to be very careful as he carefully brought the catch closer and closer to shore.

Rutherford knew that it would be tough to bring in what he could tell was a massive fish – or at the very least a catch that was way above the pole’s pay grade:

“Pretty much for most of the fight there was nothing I could do but hold her and hope her little sandpaper teeth didn’t grind through the line. Every time she got within 10 or 15 yards of the bank, it was like she knew she was about to be caught and she’d take another big run. It was definitely the fight of my life.”

Eventually, after a long, painstaking battle, the West Virginia father was able to show off in front of his kids and land the large catfish (he eventually got into the water and secured it with his bare hands). Rutherford could tell that the gilled creature was a monster, and days later, the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources confirmed that the catfish would be the new record holder – both for weight at 46.7 pound and length at 43.51 inches.

That’s wild a fish of that size was caught with a pole that usually could barely handle a small bluegill.

And to add to the good news, Rutherford was able to release the colossal catfish back into his farm pond. Though it took a second to get back to its normal activities, it eventually did so:

“I jumped in the water for about 10 or 15 minutes just working to revive her. She was exhausted, but thankfully the Good Lord wanted the legend to live on. She was able to get herself back to where she was able to go back and forth on her own. She’s alive and well.”