New Mexico Teen Releases Potential Record Blue Catfish The 13-year-old angler landed an estimated 55-pound blue catfish, but let it go before it could be certified SHARE
A New Mexico news station reports that a teenager has been credited with landing and releasing a 55-pound blue catfish. If the fish had been properly weighed and certified, it might have broken the current state record. Alonso Ordaz, 13, was fishing with his father in their boat on Elephant Butte Lake. He was using a cut bait shad with a Muddy River Catfishing Demon Dragon when he hooked the monster. Ordaz’s father weighed the fish on a scale he had in their boat, and the cat bottomed out at 55-pounds. They released the fish after reviving it.
Catches of the week
Stacy Preston, of Artesia, caught a 6.8-pound, 22.5-inch largemouth bass at Brantley Lake using a Storm Largo Shad on Feb. 25.
Crystal Garcia, of Albuquerque, caught a 22-inch brown trout on the Chama River below El Vado Lake using a minnow imitation swimbait Feb. 27.
Alonso Ordaz, 13, caught and released a 55-pound blue catfish at Elephant Butte Lake using cut bait shad on a Santee Cooper Rig with a Muddy River Catfishing Demon Dragon Feb. 22. Keith Rogers, of Silver City, caught 16 white bass in the 2 to 2.5-pound range trolling white/silver shad-color deep-diving crankbaits Feb. 27.
Jusiah Estrada, 11, of Las Vegas, caught and released a 17-inch cuttbow trout at Morphy Lake using a brown and gold Joe’s Fly on March 1.