Man reels in largest fish ever caught in Tennessee

KINGSTON, Tenn. (Gray News) - A Tennessee man reeled in the largest fish of any species ever caught in the state. It weighed in at 149 pounds.

Henry Dyer caught the monstrosity of a paddlefish April 13 at Cherokee Reservoir in upper East Tennessee. It is both the largest paddlefish ever caught in the state and the largest fish of any species ever caught in the state.

The paddlefish weighs in at 149 pounds, which is 19 pounds heavier than the previous record-setting fish caught back in 1976. It is 79 inches in length and 44 in girth, according to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.

Dyer told WTVC about his experience catching the massive creature.

“When I snagged that thing, I thought I’d hung on a stump, and then, all of a sudden, it just took off,” he said. “I was in the back of a boat, and it was everything I could do to hold on to it.”

He said it took more than half an hour and two people to get the fish on the boat.

“I’m a little feller, and that fish weighed more than me,” he told WTVC.

Dyer nicknamed the paddlefish “Old Big Boy” and donated it to the state wildlife agency, who will use it for research purposes.

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