Weird NewsTennesseefishfishing

Woman Catches A 'River Monster' And Has The Footage To Prove It

"I never in my life seen a fish this big," Paula Cathey Smith exclaimed of her 88-pound catfish haul.
Ron Dicker
By 

General Assignment Reporter, HuffPost

Paula Cathey Smith caught a whopper ― and she earned it.

The angler posted a nearly 12-minute video last weekend of her reeling in a huge catfish dubbed a “River Monster” by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.

Smith hooked the 88-pound blue catfish in Kentucky Lake, which borders Kentucky and Tennessee. The experience was “awesome,” she told HuffPost on Thursday.

Paula Cathey Smith cradles her prize catch, an 88-pound blue catfish.
Paula Cathey Smith cradles her prize catch, an 88-pound blue catfish.
Courtesy of Paula Cathey Smith

Smith told the Tennessean that as soon as she dipped a fresh gizzard into the water, it bit.

“I never in my life seen a fish this big,” said Smith, who later released the fish.

The fish is Smith’s personal best in terms of weight, the Tennessee agency wrote, but she has her eye on a bigger catch.

Paula Cathey Smith's catch is her personal best.
Paula Cathey Smith's catch is her personal best.
Courtesy of Paula Cathey Smith

“My goal is to beat the state record of 112 (pounds),” she told HuffPost.

Smith later released the 88-pounder, saying she hoped her grandson could catch it one day.
Smith later released the 88-pounder, saying she hoped her grandson could catch it one day.
Courtesy of Paula Cathey Smith

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