Third Grader Catches Record Catfish

It’s official: The first day of spring was last week. The birds are heading north again, the turkeys are starting to strut their stuff, and the fishing gets better by the day. Take Dakota Hinson of Mississippi. He went out fishing last week and caught a record-setting blue catfish—one that beat the previous record by 2 pounds. According to the Natchez Democrat, Dakota was fishing in the Mississippi River and first thought he snagged a piece of wood. Once he realized it was a huge fish, he fought it for 20 minutes before getting it in the net. In the end, the official weight was 95 pounds. Weather is always an issue this time of year. You never know when it’s going to be sunny, or when it’s going to rain. But I encourage everyone to get outside when they can. It’s a great time of year and you never know when you might catch a huge fish or shoot a trophy tom. Believe me, I practice what I preach—look out steelhead, here I come. —Ben