Setting a record, Wyatt Stokes’ catfish from Carters Lake

ELLIJAY, Ga. – Wyatt Stokes, 13, has become a popular name in the fishing community in less than a month because of one catfish caught early on May 6.

Wyatt was with his father, Jamie Stokes, as they made a common trek from the house to nearby Carter’s Lake. Arriving early in the dawn, they began fishing for Striper in the lake at a favorite spot near the Ridgeway Park Boat Ramp.

However, young Wyatt grew bored of Striper after a time and his father suggested he swap over to Catfish. Jamie tells FYN that he suggested it to Wyatt because they had been biting more lately and it could be a little better catch.

Neither could know just how right he was. Jamie said it wasn’t long at all, on Wyatt’s first cast, that he got a bite. On the other end of that bite was a 41 lbs 12 oz Catfish. A “monster” in the lake. In the ensuing struggle, nearly a full hour passed before Wyatt finally pulled the massive fish onto the bank of the lake.

Jamie says that the two fish nearly every day, Wyatt will often visit two large ponds near their house when he can’t make it to Carters Lake. They have also fished in several tournaments as well, so fighting and dealing with common tricks of the fish was merely a waiting game and test of patience for the 13-year-old as the hour passed. With nearly a 20 feet cast a run before he set the hook, Wyatt has a hard fight> But as he finally pulled the humongous flathead catfish up on the bank, the excitement of both the men overflowed as Jamie said that just seeing his son’s joy at what he accomplished “was worth a million bucks.”

Fishing from the bank of the lake as they always do for striper and catfish, Jamie said that this fish turned out to be the only thing they caught that day, but as they celebrated the catch, neither of them had any thoughts about it being a record. Rather, they just celebrated a massive catch.

In fact, Wyatt himself wold FYN that he was trying to decide whether to just release it or give it to a friend at first. It wasn’t until a phone call to his grandfather that the suggestion came up that they should have it officially weighed, which began a whole new process of finding certified scales.

Jamie said they were looking around and were originally looking at weighing it at Ingles in Ellijay, but didn’t think the scale would go high enough as they capped in the thirties. Ultimately, two days later, they found certified scales at ACE Hardware and followed up with an official weight.

At 41 lbs 12 oz, the official record had been broken. And so, at 13 years old, Wyatt Stokes has become a record holder for the largest Flathead Catfish in Carter’s Lake.

But when asked how excited he was about it now, Wyatt said, “That ain’t too much to me, I’m going to have another one here in a little bit.”

Jamie said that Wyatt has been fishing as long as he could fit a pole in his hand, but at six years old, he could bait, cast, and reel the fish in on his own. Growing up in the sport, Wyatt has already had nearly seven years of experience of his own to build on. He said he was going to continue on as normal switching around on what he is fishing for. He said it was competition that he enjoys with fishing. A hard competition was exactly what he got as he said the catch incredibly difficult.

He tells FYN that he and his family wound up eating the record fish.