After assisting in the catch of several whopping blue catfish in his time, Kansas fisherman Brad Kilpatrick finally got a chance at his own record-breaker when he caught an 82-pounder in the Kansas River.
Kilpatrick has helped his friend net a 102-pounder back in 2012 that set the state record, which still stands today. And he’d been the assist man on a number of other whoppers caught be friends, so much so that it became a running joke.
“It got to be a joke. I’d tell guys I was fishing with, ‘Well, you’re going to catch a big one today. I’m in the boat,’” he told the Kansas City Star. “I’ve netted a lot of huge blue cats. But I was wondering when it was going to be my turn.”
His turn came the other day when he hauled in the 82 pound blue catfish that he caught and released from the Kansas River around 11 pm near downtown Kansas City.
“I waited 10 years for that fish,” he told the Star. “Now I’m after one even bigger. They’re out there. The Missouri River and the Kaw have some huge catfish. But they don’t come along every day.”
Photo credit: KansasCity.com
