A 20-year-old Arlington man out fishing near the Chain Bridge caught the biggest catfish of his life this week.
Stanley “Sebby” Brock III arrived at his usual fishing spot around 4 p.m. on Wednesday, hoping to catch some shad or striped bass during their annual migration. He cast his first line and, about 10 seconds later, felt a tug on his pole, he said.
“I just let the fish have it and I reeled it in,” Brock told ARLnow. “It was super heavy, and I was like, ‘dang, this one is definitely big.'”
He had no idea the fish would be that big, though. Brock said he could barely lift the creature, which he estimates weighed about as much as his 11-year-old brother.
“The mouth on that thing was so big — my little brother’s head could’ve easily fit in that guy’s mouth,” he said.
Brock didn’t have a tape measure or scale, so he just got a picture with the beast before letting it go.
“I was just really happy and kind of shocked about the size of it,” he said. “The average person wouldn’t expect a fish of that size to be, just, right here.”
Brock, a fifth-generation Arlingtonian and Yorktown High School graduate, has been fishing since he was a little kid. He typically casts a line a few times a week in between classes at Northern Virginia Community College.
On Wednesday, he was using his favorite bait: chopped eel. He gets live eel from Good Fortune Supermarket at the Eden Center.
Brock said the Potomac is teeming with fish this time of year.
“It’s just crazy,” he said. “Fish are jumping everywhere. Shad are running; catfish are huge. So yeah, that’s why I like it.”
Many fish found in the Arlington County, including white catfish, bullhead catfish and channel catfish less than 18 inches long, are generally safe to eat — although people shouldn’t eat them more than twice a month, according to the Potomac Riverkeeper Network.
What’s next for Brock? During a phone interview yesterday afternoon, he was already on his way back to the spot where snagged the giant catfish.
“I’m trying to catch a bigger one,” he said.
