A fisherman had an absolutely bonkers story involving a catfish. When a state record-breaking fish attempted to get away, he dove on it and wrestled it to submission.
Speaking with Outdoor Life about the insane tale, Codie Carlson opened up about a night of bowfishing at Plum Creek, Michigan.
"My girlfriend Shelby Philipski wanted me to go so I could do something fun after work," Carlson told the outlet. "I was walking along the creek, and I saw a tail wave out of the water. I have a flashlight on my bow, and saw its mouth and whiskers, so I knew it was a catfish."
Upon seeing the fish, he took aim and let the arrow fly. He was right on the mark, but it didn't kill the fish. The catfish quickly took off through the water, taking all the fishing line with it. Quickly dropping the bow, Carlson grabbed the line and chased after the fish.
Fisherman Wrestles Catfish
"It ran into some thick lily pads, and I thought my arrow had pulled out," Carlson says. "The water is muddy, and I couldn't see the fish ... I gave the line some slack and it came up out of the pads 12 feet away out in the water."
Realizing the arrow was close to coming out, Carlson made the split-second decision to jump into the creek on top of the catfish.
"I'm 6 feet, 4 inches, and in my full work clothes and boots. And when I got the fish by its mouth, I was up to my belt in water," Carlson explains. "But I had him. He fought me a few times as I was grabbing him, and he chomped down on my hands. But I wrestled him out of the water and onto a nearby roadway."
He had a pulse-pounding, joyous moment of triumph. Upon pulling it out of the creek, he realized he had caught a flathead catfish. He said, "I was freaking out on the creek bank, and I had to call Shelby to tell her."
The next day, he drove the catfish to Standard Scale and Supply. It weighed 64.46 pounds and was 45 inches long, breaking previous state records.
"I honestly didn't know flathead catfish were in that creek," says Carlson. "I just wanted something for dinner, and I'm gonna eat my record fish, too."
