[piano intro] - [Joe Dorman] Well, this is my first one so I can't say he's great big or just average.

- [Robbie Burr] Well he's a good one to start with.

- [Joe Dorman] Yeah.

Yeah, he's cutting a shine down there a little bit.

- It's like a torpedo.

- And here he comes, like you said, he's coming right to the boat now.

I got a feeling he's gonna leave in a minute.

I think we're gonna get to see him right here, in a second.

- [Robbie Burr] Oh, yeah.

- [Joe Dorman] Yeah, now I think he's gonna get excited.

Oh, yeah, yeah, he's a nice fish.

That's a blue cat.

I told you he was gonna get mad about it.

- [male announcer]: The Carolina Outdoor Journal is brought to you by: - [female announcer]: "Wildlife in North Carolina" magazine has been delivering stunning photography and informative articles for more than 80 years.

- [male announcer]: And by EZ Bait & Tackle.

Family owned and operated.

We fish from fresh to saltwater.

We provide fishing supplies and advice to every type of angler.

For all your fishing needs, EZ Bait & Tackle.

- And by contributions from PBS North Carolina viewers like you.

[light instrumental music] ♪ ♪ ♪ - Hello, welcome to the Carolina Outdoor Journal.

Well, today we're headed to the Pee Dee, but it is about catfish today, Joe, and I mean big catfish.

- Yeah, this is, turned out to be a big catfish day.

We're fishing with Robbie Burr, with Pee Dee Fishing Adventures near Lawrinburg, between Lawrinburg and Rockingham on the Pee Dee River, and just had a great morning catching blue catfish just shy of 50 pounds.

- [John Moore] When you start catching cats that big you gotta rig right.

We'll talk about that in gear-time.

- That's right, we'll go back and the guys will share with us how they rigged up and we're using fresh-cut bait.

But I was taken aback by how many big fish we caught that morning, so, stay tuned.

- And Donna in the kitchen, a recipe for flounder.

- [Joe Albea] Good flounder recipe from her today.

- Alright, we got a lot going on, some big cats today.

- That's right.

- Alright, let's get started right here on the Carolina Outdoor Journal.

- [Joe Dorman] [Mumble] it's mid-April, it's my first trip to the Pee Dee River.

Never been on this river fishing before.

I understand we're gonna catch some big catfish today.

- [Robbie Burr] Yessir, we gonna be fishing for blue cats.

- [Joe Dorman] Yeah?

- [Robbie Burr] And this time of the year they're up shallow and they're ready to feed, and getting ready to spawn and we going to slide down here and we're going to be fishing with big gizzard shad cut bait, and we're going to try to catch some of these big blues.

- [Joe Dorman] How about flatheads or channels?

Are they in here as well?

- [Robbie Burr] Yeah, there's flatheads and channels, but there's more blues than anything.

- [Joe Dorman] Right.

- [Robbie Burr] And they pretty much about taken this river over.

- [Joe Dorman] Yeah, the channels won't get as big as these blues will they?

- [Robbie Burr] No, they'll be about 10, 15 pounds.

- [Joe Dorman] Right.

- [Robbie Burr] And these blues, the average one we catch down here is around 30 pounds.

- [Joe Dorman] Yeah?

- [Robbie Burr] And we've caught them 50, 60, and 70 pounds, so- - [Joe Dorman] Well, that's a big cat.

- [Robbie Burr] Yessir, it is.

That's what we're looking for today.

- [Joe Dorman] Yeah.

That'll bend the pole.

- [Robbie Burr] Hahaha.

That'll pull the drag, too.

- [Joe Dorman] Hahahah.

Well I'm looking forward to it.

- [Robbie Burr] Alrighty.

- [Joe Dorman] Robbie it looks like we're using a pretty good-sized circle hook here.

- [Robbie Burr] Yeah.

- [Joe Dorman] And a little bit of a leader I see on the base, and a sliding sinker, about a one-ounce, it looks like.

And it's pretty typical in shallow water, I guess.

- [Robbie Burr] Yes, yeah, you only need enough lead to keep your bait on the bottom, and actually a lot of times I won't even use any lead, but we got a low current today.

- [Joe Dorman] Right.

Show me how you rig that bait up.

- [Robbie Burr] Alright.

This is a number eight octopus circle hook.

And what we're doing, we're cutting up a gizzard shad.

- [Joe Dorman] This is almost big enough to eat.

- [Robbie Burr] What I usually do on these heads, is I'll cut that fin off so it won't get in the way of the hook.

You want to hook it just enough where it'll stay on.

So, we make sure there ain't no scales in the way of that point.

- [Joe Dorman] Right.

- [Robbie Burr] And it's ready.

- [Joe Dorman] We're just gonna drift this over the side then.

- [Robbie Burr] Well, I'm gonna cast it out there, or you can cast it.

- [Joe Dorman] OK. Now Robbie, you got the drag set like you want it on this?

- [Robbie Burr] Yeah, so what you want to do is you want to cast it out, and lock the reel down.

- [Joe Dorman] OK. - [Robbie Burr] And just put it in the rod holder and when the fish grabs it he'll bend it down and he'll pull the drag out on it.

- [Joe Dorman] I got you.

- [Robbie Burr] And he'll hook himself, all you gotta do is pick it up and wind it.

- [Joe Dorman] How many rods we gonna put out today?

- [Robbie Burr] Six.

- [Joe Dorman] OK.

Sounds good.

- [Robbie Burr] There we go.

- [Joe Dorman] Yeah, there.

Well, this is my first one so I can't say he's great big or just average, - [Robbie Burr] Well, he's a good one to start with.

- [Joe Dorman] Yeah.

Yeah, he's cutting a shine down there a little bit.

- [Robbie Burr] It's like a torpedo.

- [Joe Dorman] And here he comes like you said, he's coming right to the boat now.

I got a feeling he's gonna leave in a minute.

I think we're gonna get to see him right here in a second.

- [Robbie Burr] Oh, yeah.

- [Joe Dorman] Yeah, now I think he's gonna get excited.

Oh, yeah, yeah, he's a nice fish.

That's a blue cat.

- [Robbie Burr] Oh, yeah.

- [Joe Dorman] I told you he was gonna get mad about it.

Yeah, that's a nice cat.

- [Robbie Burr] It's a good one to warm up with.

- [Joe Dorman] Yeah, it is.

Alright, there he is.

Now you got him.

- [Robbie Burr] There we go.

- [Joe Dorman] That's a fat cat.

- [Robbie Burr] Oh, yeah.

Yeah, that circle hook will get them right in the side of the mouth.

- [Joe Dorman] Yep.

- [Robbie Burr] About every time.

- [Joe Dorman] And you're right, it wouldn't come out.

- [Robbie Burr] Oh, no.

- [Joe Dorman] Yeah.

- [Robbie Burr] There we go.

- [Joe Dorman] That's a good deal right there.

- [Robbie Burr] Alright, let's see what he weighs.

- [Joe Dorman] Hook him up there.

- [Robbie Burr] I got him.

There you go.

- [Joe Dorman] 20-something?

- [Robbie Burr] Yeah, I'm gonna say he's about 24.

And he is.

24.

- [Joe Dorman] Let him lay still a minute.

Alright?

- [Robbie Burr] 24.

- [Joe Dorman] Alright.

Oh, look at that.

- [Robbie Burr] These fish are full of mussels, these freshwater mussels.

- [Joe Dorman] Yeah.

- [Robbie Burr] Hear them rattling?

- [Joe Dorman] I do.

- [Robbie Burr] They eat 'em shell and all.

- [Joe Dorman] Yeah?

- [Robbie Burr] Yep.

Alright, we're putting him back.

- [Joe Dorman] Good deal.

Alright.

Let's get this baited back up, see if we can find another one.

- [Robbie Burr] He's swimming downstream with it.

- [Joe Dorman] Yeah?

- [Robbie Burr] See he ain't got that hook yet, he's just holding on to the bait, swimming with it.

- [Joe Dorman] So, what he's doing is pulling it out of his mouth and he's grabbing it again?

- [Robbie Burr] Yeah.

- [Joe Dorman] Yeah.

- [Robbie Burr] Now he's got the bait.

- [Joe Dorman] I think he got a little bored of the bait that time.

- [Robbie Burr] Yeah, see the fish out there?

- [Joe Dorman] There you go.

Yeah.

There you go.

Looks to be a little better than the last one.

- [Robbie Burr] Yeah.

- [Joe Dorman] Yeah.

Now do I need to move any of these rods or are you gonna be able to- - [Robbie Burr] Uh, I think I can probably go under them.

- [Joe Dorman] OK.

I'll be the betting man this time.

- [Robbie Burr] He's wrapped up in the line, see when he gets unwrapped then he'll run.

- [Joe Dorman] Yeah, then he'll run.

- [Robbie Burr] And I think I'm gonna go under it.

- [Joe Dorman] They will roll and I'll grab that line, get it in if I need to.

Think I better?

- [Robbie Burr] Yeah, we better get it.

He's gonna roll in it.

- [Joe Dorman] Yep, I think so, matter of fact I think he has.

- [Robbie Burr] Yeah.

- [Joe Dorman] Are you- - [Robbie Burr] Yeah, go ahead.

- [Joe Dorman] Which way, you under or over?

- [Robbie Burr] I gotta go, there we go.

- [Joe Dorman] Alright.

- [Robbie Burr] We good.

- [Joe Dorman] Alright, now keep him coming.

I get this out of the way.

If he gets in this next one I'll... Just say the word if I need to pull that one in.

- [Robbie Burr] I think we're alright, now.

- [Joe Dorman] OK. Yeah, that's a nice fish.

Yeah, that'll give you a handful.

- [Robbie Burr] [Mumble] - [Joe Dorman] Oh, yeah, yeah, that's a much better fish than that last one.

Alright.

Alright, I'll see if I can get him in.

- [Robbie Burr] There you go.

- [Joe Dorman] Oh, yeah.

Boy, they're fat.

- [Robbie Burr] There's healthy fish down here today.

- [Joe Dorman] They are healthy.

- [Robbie Burr] They got plenty to eat and that's why they get so big.

- [Joe Dorman] Yeah?

Alright?

- [Robbie Burr] Got him right in the corner.

- [Joe Dorman] Yeah?

- [Robbie Burr] There we go.

- [Joe Dorman] I believe that fish'll be a little bigger than that last one.

- [Robbie Burr] Yeah.

Can you read it?

- [Joe Dorman] Nope.

I'm gonna have to get my glasses on.

- [Robbie Burr] Hold it by that black part right there, there you go.

- [Joe Dorman] OK. That one's about, looks like about 28.

- [Robbie Burr] OK. - [Joe Dorman] Yeah.

And he's a handful.

- [Robbie Burr] Oh, yeah.

There he goes.

- [Joe Dorman] Well, look at that.

Well, good job.

- [Robbie Burr] Alright, we'll bait it back up and get another one.

- [Joe Dorman] Two down.

[gentle music] - [Robbie Burr] Yeah, get him, he's there.

- [Joe Dorman] Boy, I think that's a little better.

Yeah.

- [Robbie Burr] Oh, yeah, that's a pretty one, there.

- [Joe Dorman] Yeah, that's a good fish.

- [Robbie Burr] There we go, we got two going.

- [Joe Dorman] Got two going?

You were right.

Now we just got these lines out, just moved, and got in here and... - [Robbie Burr] Oh, I got a good one, too.

- [Joe Dorman] Have you?

Yeah, he's running.

Now mine's wrapped up.

- [Robbie Burr] That's alright.

Let me get him.

- [Joe Dorman] Alright, go right through there.

Yeah, this is gonna get fun now.

- [Robbie Burr] Yeah, we got two good ones.

- [Joe Dorman] You hold my net and I'll hold your net.

I think you're just gonna have to lift this one, brother.

No time for netting.

Please, Mr. Catfish, don't bite another one.

- [Robbie Burr] I know it!

- [Joe Dorman] I'm out of arms.

- [Robbie Burr] I don't know about you but I got a mean one, boy.

- [Joe Dorman] This one wasn't mean earlier but he was like you said earlier, wrap up, and then they get unwrapped.

Then they run again.

- [Robbie Burr] Is he going around the boat on you?

- [Joe Dorman] Trying to.

You might have to back there and go on one of those other rods.

- [Joe Dorman] I'm gonna pull him back up here.

- [Robbie Burr] 'Cause if he touches the boat with that line, it'll break.

- [Joe Dorman] Well, yeah.

I'll try to keep him off.

- [Robbie Burr] Yeah, stick your rod down in the water.

- [Joe Dorman] Yeah.

- [Robbie Burr] He's probably gonna go around and yank the rope back there.

- [Joe Dorman] Pull him back up here.

- [Robbie Burr] There we go.

- [Joe Dorman] We'll get one of them.

Now that's the mac daddy right there.

- [Robbie Burr] Yeah, but yours is bigger.

- [Joe Dorman] He is?

- [Robbie Burr] Oh, yeah.

Yeah, wait, he'll come back.

- [Joe Dorman] Well, - [Robbie Burr] Uh oh.

[Mumble] - [Joe Dorman] Alright.

- [Robbie Burr] [Mumble] finish on the front.

- [Joe Dorman] That one's yours.

If you can get him in.

Hahahahaha.

Well, this fish was in the rope and he'll still not give up.

- [Robbie Burr] Well, here we go.

- [Joe Dorman] I'm gonna tell ya'.

- [Robbie Burr] Yeah, just slide him out of the net.

- [Joe Dorman] Oh, yeah, that's easy.

Just slide him out.

Alright, big boy.

There you go.

- [Robbie Burr] Alright, man, that action's fast and furious.

- [Joe Dorman] You were dead right on that.

Well, when they hit.

- [Robbie Burr] They hit, they get it, don't they?

- [Joe Dorman] Yeah, there's like a school out on there.

- [Robbie Burr] Yeah, that's exactly what we did.

We stopped on a school of them and you get two or three of them and they move on.

- [Joe Dorman] Yeah.

- [Robbie Burr] Alright.

- [Joe Dorman] Yours is the biggest one for sure.

- [Robbie Burr] Yeah, he is.

- [Joe Dorman] That's a nice fish.

Now, I can't see that, but I can tell you he's heavy.

- [Robbie Burr] 46.

- [Joe Dorman] 46 pounds.

- [Robbie Burr] Yeah, boy.

- [Joe Dorman] Alright big boy.

Go get your momma.

Two at a time.

- [Robbie Burr] Two at a time, Just hook him in the bottom jaw.

- [Joe Dorman] Yeah.

So that one is - [Robbie Burr] 38.

- [Joe Dorman] 38.

- [Robbie Burr] Yep.

- [Joe Dorman] That's- - [Robbie Burr] Uh oh, we got another fish right here.

- [Joe Dorman] Another one already?

- [Robbie Burr] Right here, right here.

There he comes.

- [Joe Dorman] I'm out of breath.

Yeah, that's a nice fish.

- [Robbie Burr] He's hooked in the whiskers, too.

- [Joe Dorman] Is it in the whiskers?

- [Robbie Burr] Barely hooked in the whiskers.

- [Joe Dorman] That's why he was mean.

- [Robbie Burr] Alright, here he comes.

- [Joe Dorman] Yeah, we better get him.

If he's in the whiskers it could pull back.

- [Robbie Burr] He'll come back up.

Let him come.

There you go.

What you mean let him?

He's gonna do what he wants to.

- [Robbie Burr] You're right about that.

- [Joe Dorman] Alright, he's going in the shade now.

- [Robbie Burr] Yeah.

He'll come back out.

I'm just kinda holding steady pressure on him.

- [Joe Dorman] Yeah, - [Robbie Burr] I ain't pulling him.

- [Joe Dorman] I know you can't pull too much.

I'm on the wrong side, every time.

- [Robbie Burr] He'll come up.

- [Joe Dorman] Well, are you sure?

- [Robbie Burr] Yeah.

Here, we'll get him this time.

He's about ready.

There you go.

- [Joe Dorman] I heard there was- - [Robbie Burr] There you go.

- [Joe Dorman] Bull sharks up here but I like the catfish [mumble] then out.

- [Robbie Burr] Yeah.

- [Joe Dorman] That's another nice fish.

- [Robbie Burr] Oh, yeah.

Oh, right.

Let's see what we got on here.

38.

- [Joe Dorman] 38.

- [Robbie Burr] Yep.

Another pretty one.

- [Joe Dorman] There he goes.

- [Robbie Burr] Let him grow up some more.

- [Joe Dorman] Yeah, get big.

I hope he does get big.

- [Robbie Burr] He will.

- [Joe Dorman] Now what we gonna do?

There's one right there.

- [Robbie Burr] Oh, that looks like a good one.

- [Joe Dorman] That's a pole bender, I think.

I noticed you ain't in no hurry to get the net, like it's gonna be a few minutes.

- [Robbie Burr] Yeah, it's gonna take you a minute on him.

- [Joe Dorman] Alright.

- [Robbie Burr] I will reel the other rods in though, won't let him make a mess.

- [Joe Dorman] Well, [mumble] in a minute he ain't headed back this way, so, you still got time.

He just came right straight to the boat.

I thought he came off, and I got a feeling when he sees the boat, it's gonna get exciting again.

- [Robbie Burr] Oh, yeah.

- [Joe Dorman] Yeah, there he goes.

Yeah, he's right under the boat now.

I'm gonna try not to give him your pole.

- [Robbie Burr] Thank you.

- [Joe Dorman] Yeah.

That is a big fish right there.

- [Robbie Burr] There you go.

Yeah that's a pretty one.

- [Joe Dorman] That's a pretty blue cat.

Come one, get out of that anchor root.

Oh, man, look at that thing.

Very good, sir.

- [Robbie Burr] He's captured.

- [Joe Dorman] I been asking you to do that for the last 15 minutes.

Need some help?

- [Robbie Burr] There we go.

- [Joe Dorman] Now we'll see what he weighs.

- [Robbie Burr] Alright.

- [Joe Dorman] That may be the biggest one of the day.

- [Robbie Burr] Gonna be close.

- [Joe Dorman] Yeah.

Hold still, baby.

Just hold it there about 30 more minutes and I'll tell you.

- [Robbie Burr] 42.

- [Joe Dorman] 42 pounds.

- [Robbie Burr] Yep.

- Joe simply put, some big cats.

- Real big cats and these were all blue catfish.

He's got some flatheads there, too.

Maybe a few channels, but mainly the blue catfish is the predominant catfish that he targets and is very successful at catching, so we'll join them at gear time and they'll talk about the tackle.

'Cause you gotta have something with some backbone to it, these are big fish, you have a little current.

Well, the current actually is determined by the dam upriver from you, so at times it can be pretty brisk, and so you need some stout tackle.

- Well, you talk about stout tackle, let's join our anglers in Gear Time.

[gentle music] - [Joe Dorman] Well Robbie, my first trip to the Pee Dee has been exciting.

I have had a ball, this has been fun.

Tell me, we changed rods mid-part of the day.

Tell me why.

- [Robbie Burr] Well, we started out with eight foot rods and a one-ounce piece of lead, so we could cast a long ways from the boat.

The water was down and clear and these fish are very spooky, and the further you can cast from the boat the better off you are.

- [Joe Dorman] Right.

- [Robbie Burr] Now, as we continued fishing the river started rising, and we swapped over to a shorter rod, 'cause we didn't need to throw as far.

And we needed more lead, and so we picked up two or three ounce piece of lead to keep the bait on the bottom.

- [Joe Dorman] And the shorter rods are stronger, - [Robbie Burr] Yes.

- [Joe Dorman] In this current when that last fish was almost 50 pounds, and in a lot of current that's a hard pull.

- [Robbie Burr] Yes.

- [Joe Dorman] So you need more bone in your rod.

Now, I noticed you're throwing braid on the reel with a short monofilament leader.

Tell me about that.

- [Robbie Burr] Well the braid's a hundred pounds, and the monofilament is 80 which is tied to the hook.

- [Joe Dorman] Right.

- [Robbie Burr] That way when your hook gets hung you can pull and just break your hook off.

- [Joe Dorman] Yeah.

- [Robbie Burr] And still keep your lead and your bear swivel.

- [Joe Dorman] And the braid's castable, you couldn't cast a hundred pound monofilament.

- [Robbie Burr] Yeah.

- [Joe Dorman] Now you mentioned the hook I noticed you use circle hooks here, and they did a really good job today.

Tell me about the circle hooks.

- [Robbie Burr] Well, that's a 8/0 Gamakatsu circle hook and when you fish multiple rods like we did today, you need circle hooks because it'll hook the fish itself.

- [Joe Dorman] Yeah.

- [Robbie Burr] You don't have to jerk and set the hook, and that way you could put these rods out and fish a lot of rods and catch fish when they bite.

- [Joe Dorman] Well there was times we had three fish on, in only two hours.

- [Robbie Burr] That's right.

- [Joe Dorman] Now, we also changed baits mid morning.

Tell me about the bait.

- [Robbie Burr] Well, we started out with gizzard shad which is native to this river.

You can catch these about all year long, and the catfish will bite them and then we changed over and tried some Blueback herring and some other shad.

- [Joe Dorman] Right.

- [Robbie Burr] You just gotta try 'em and see which one they prefer.

- [Joe Dorman] Yeah, let the fish tell you.

- [Robbie Burr] Yes.

- [Joe Dorman] Well, I tell you, I have had a ball, and I hope to get to it again.

- [Robbie Burr] Yessir.

- [Joe Dorman] I appreciate the invitation.

- [Robbie Burr] Yessir.

- [Joe Dorman] Thank you.

- Well as always we thank you for that valuable information.

Now, let's catch up with Donna, she's in the kitchen with a recipe for flounder.

[gentle music] - Hi, today in the kitchen we're going to be making a pistachio-crusted flounder.

And it's a great way to just kinda liven up the regular flounder that you might be frying, so let's go ahead and get started.

We have some oil in our pan.

It's already heating up and then I'm gonna add just about a couple tablespoons of butter to that, and that will help give it a nice flavor.

But butter has a low smoking point so we have to add some other oil to it as well.

So, let's go ahead and get started with breading our flounder.

I have my great flounder filets right here on my plate.

And then we're going to add our breader, our seafood breader onto our wax paper, and you know I like to use my wax paper because it's easy for cleanup, I just fold it up and toss it out.

So, we have our breader on our wax paper, and then we're gonna add in some pistachios, and these are one of our favorite nuts at our house, even though we are all a little nutty, but we love our pistachios.

And what I did is I just took these and I just processed them in my food processor, a couple pulses just to crumble them up and the finer you get them, you know, that's great but I like to leave a little crunches, too.

So just kinda pulse it until they're broken up and we're just gonna add that into our breader.

And then I'm just gonna toss it a little bit with my tongs here, so, then we're ready to go.

So, I'm gonna take my flounder filets and I'm just gonna place it on top of my breader and kinda dredge it in there so it gets nice and coated on both sides.

And then we need to make sure that our oil is ready, so I'm gonna take a little bit of my breader and I'm gonna place it in here and it looks like it's ready.

'Cause you know if it's not hot enough, then you're going to, a lot of the oil will be absorbed into your fish, which is not what we want.

And if it's too hot then it's gonna cook on the outside really fast and then the inside's not gonna be cooked.

So you want to make sure that it's about 375 to 400 degrees so you make sure that you get that nice crisp on the outside but tender and juicy on the inside.

You're gonna lock in those flavors, in that moisture.

So, we're gonna take our, we're gonna shake off our excess, and then we're gonna place this down into our pan.

As you can see it's nice and bubbly, and we're gonna let this cook for about two to three minutes on each side until it's nice and golden brown and you're ready to go.

Depends on the thickness of your filets how long it will take, so just kinda, you know, gear that depending on your thickness.

And then we're going to top it with some tartar sauce, but instead of using just the regular tartar sauce which is fine, I took some mayonnaise and some artichokes and I pulsed those in my food processor again until it was kind of pureed, and then add a little bit of lime juice to this, and it makes a nice, just a little different tartar sauce, and you can just make this up and keep it in your fridge and then use it on your different fishes if you like.

So, this is what it looks like when it's finished.

You can see it's golden brown and you can see the little chunks of the pistachios.

They're all nice and crispy and crunchy as well.

Cooking them in the oil will bring out more of the nutty flavor of the pistachios, too, so you're gonna get this great crust on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside.

And then I served it with just a little bit of some steamed asparagus and then our tartar sauce on the side.

So, I hope you enjoyed the pistachio-crusted flounder and I look forward to seeing you next time here on Simple Cooking.

- Thanks, Donna, for that recipe.

Joe, I want to go back and talk about not only the size of the catfish, but the catch-and-release program.

- Yeah, and the catch-and-release program is why he's got the size catfish he's got.

He has got a policy, if you catch anything under 20 pounds, you can take it home to eat.

They're good on the table and a lot of catfish are.

Anything over 20 pounds is strictly cath-and-release, and that's why he's got the number of big catfish that he's got, and they are predominantly blue catfish.

His biggest fish to date is over 70 pounds.

I want to say 73 but I know it's over 70 pounds.

And that's a big catfish, that is a big catfish.

Our big catfish of the day was 48.

We had a 42 and a couple of 38s and all this was within a like, three hour period, so if you've never caught a fish that size, give him a call.

It's an opportunity to catch maybe the biggest fish you've ever caught in your life and have fun doing it.

- And there's no doubt about it, it all happens right here in North Carolina.

- Right here in North Carolina.

- For Joe Albea, I'm John Moore, thanks for joining us today on the Carolina Outdoor Journal.

- [male announcer]: Make sure to visit our website for more information.

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For all your fishing needs, EZ Bait & Tackle.

- And by contributions from PBS North Carolina viewers like you.

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