An angler recently landed what was thought to be state record channel catfish but which DNA shows is actually a hybrid.
Several huge catfish have recently been caught out of Texas's Lake Tawakoni, including what was initially assumed to be the pending new state record channel catfish.
Josh Garcia of Midland was fishing with Michael and Teri Littlejohn's, Lake Tawakoni Guide Service when he hooked the beast.
Garcia's fish weighed 47-pounds and bested the current state channel catfish record weight by almost 10-pounds. That catfish weighed 36.5-pounds and has stood as the record since 1965, when it was pulled from the Pedernales River by Joe Cockrell.
"We have the new pending lake and state channel cat record right here," fishing guide Noel Ibarra said at the time.
But it looks as though Cockrell's channel catfish record is going to stand for a while longer. DNA results have recently returned on Garcia's big whiskerfish and they show that it was not a channel cat at all.
Rather the big catfish was a hybrid—a mix of channel and blue catfish. This may be the largest DNA confirmed hybrid ever caught, although it's unclear if it will qualify for record book inclusion. Lake Tawakoni Guide Service reports that it's being labeled a "Blue X Channel Hybrid."
This is a most unusual catch, and we're not sure if Josh Garcia is disappointed at not being able to claim the state record channel catfish or if he's more excited about catching the biggest catfish hybrid in the state (or possibly anywhere).
After measuring and weighing the jumbo hybrid, the fish was returned to Lake Tawakoni to live to fight another day.
A number of big catfish have been coming out of Lake Tawakoni lately. Just last week 13-year-old Brayden Rogers broke the blue catfish state record with a 67-pound monster he pulled from the lake.
Rogers was also fishing with Michael and Teri Littlejohn's, Lake Tawakoni Guide Service.
Like what you see here? Experience more articles and photographs about the great outdoors at the Facebook page, Stumpjack Outdoors.
NEXT: NEW YORK ANGLER'S CHANNEL CATFISH SMASHES PREVIOUS STATE RECORD
WATCH
