STEWART COUNTY, Tenn. — Tyler Schmid of Centerville chose to forego the stores for the outdoors on Black Friday, and it paid off.
While fishing with a friend on the Cumberland River, Schmid caught a 90-pound catfish, one of the largest fish ever caught in the state, WKRN reported.
The record for a Tennessee-caught blue catfish is held by Robert E. Lewis, who hooked a 112-pounder in 1998.
Schmid told WKRN it took 10 minutes to reel in the fish, which was 51 inches long and 37 inches in girth.
“I was worried that the pole would break. It pulled a lot of drag and pulled the pole down in the water. That’s why I had to take my time,” he told the station. “It was one of the highlights of my outdoor life for sure.”
But nevertheless, the big catch didn’t come home with them. Schmid released it back into the river after snapping a few photos.
“It would be a shame to keep the fish just for pictures,” he told WKRN. “So we released him to let him swim another day and hopefully catch him again.”