http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.as...08853&nav=0RaP


(Fayetville-AP) September 28, 2005 - Lifelong fisherman Brian Newberger
never keeps what he catches, not even the eye-popping, record-setting
catfish he landed more than a week ago.
The Fayetteville man was on the Cape Fear River after midnight on September
17th when he took his 20-foot pontoon boat to a place where he knew giant
catfish fed. Newberger cut a live, 14-inch eel so it would bleed. Then, he
waited.

The flathead catfish took the bait, and after 40 minutes, gave up the
battle. When Newberger got the fish to the state certified scales, he found
out he'd caught the biggest catfish in North Carolina history - 78 pounds,
52 inches long and three feet around. The old mark was 69 pounds caught in
the Cape Fear in 1994.

Newberger kept his fish alive in a custom-made tank inside his boat until he
could get it weighed. Once the weight was confirmed, he put the fish back
into the river, calling it "one of God's creations."