Harold Dodd (left) and Cary Winchester display the 108-pound blue cat that Winchester caught to establish a new U.S. record for the largest catfish ever weighed in at a tournament. Photo courtesy of kenfreemanoutdoorpromotions.com.

"We've just seen history being made," said Ken Freeman, founder and owner of Bass Pro Shops' Big Cat Quest. "Never before has a century-mark catfish been weighed in a catfishing tournament. I always hoped I would see it, but I never thought I actually would."

. . . Two For The Show
When Day 2 began, King and his teammates knew they needed to catch more good fish to maintain their lead.

"When you're competing on the Mississippi River with anglers who are the best in the sport, anything is possible," King said. "We knew we had to fish hard and bring in some more respectable cats to maintain our lead."

Harold Dodd and Cary Winchester of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, also were fishing hard when dawn broke on Nov. 4. For 20 minutes, they had been fishing a hole where Dodd caught an almost-50-pound blue cat a week earlier. Then, suddenly, Winchester's rod went down hard. Winchester, who has caught Mississippi River cats up to 95 pounds, knew the fish was huge when he couldn't budge it from the bottom.

"It took half an hour for me just to turn its head and get it coming toward the boat," he said. "And another 15 minutes passed before I got the fish close enough for Harold to net."

Dodd and Winchester are among the country's premier big-river catfish anglers, and they had no doubt they had caught a fish equal to or larger than King's 103-pounder.

"It was hard for me to believe it had really happened," Dodd said. "But when we finally had that big scoundrel in the boat, I knew there were going to be at least two catfish over 100 pounds weighed in at this tournament. I was excited to no end."

After the first day's weigh-in, Ken Freeman had told a reporter, "I wouldn't be surprised if King's record stood for 20 years or more." He was only off by 20 years minus a day.

"There was no way I thought anyone would beat the big fish from Day 1," he said. "But then, during the second day's weigh-in, a rumor started circulating that another team inline had a fish over 100 pounds. I was so skeptical of the possibility, I thought, Yeah, and what great angler is making that estimate? But when I heard it was Dodd and Winchester, I knew they were fully capable of accurately judging the size of any catfish they caught. Six boats later, they came up, and when I saw that big catfish, I knew immediately it would make the mark. Assistant tournament director Denny Halgren gasped, 'It's even bigger than yesterday's fish.' "

It took both Winchester and Dodd to carry the blue catfish to the stage. When they finally got the fish wedged in a plastic bucket and on the scale, a cheer went up from the crowd that had gathered to see the weigh-in at Mud Island River Park. Winchester's monster weighed an even 108 pounds, another new tournament record.