Teen angler’s giant blue catfish was a potential record breaker

A 13-year-old Mew Mexico angler reeled up a 55-pound blue catfish recently at Elephant Butte Lake, and the fish was a potential record breaker.

But Alonso Ordaz and his father chose to release the behemoth after obtaining a weight on a hand-held scale rather than try to locate certified scale.

The state record stands at 54 pounds, 4 ounces.

Alonso caught the fish using cut shad and a Muddy River Demon Dragon float, according to the New Mexico Department of Game & Fish, which announced the Feb. 22 catch on March 4.

For the sake of comparison, the all-tackle world record for blue catfish stands at 143 pounds. That fish was caught at Virginia’s Kerr Lake in June 2011.

–Image showing Alonso Ordaz with his massive blue catfish is courtesy of the New Mexico Department of Game & Fish