Man breaks 50-year-old channel catfish record RALEIGH, North Carolina (WLOS) — The former North Carolina state record for a channel catfish held steady for 50 years, but the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission reported Jan. 20 that a Pinehurst man broke that record last September. John Stone, of Pinehurst, now holds the new record after catching a 23-pound, 5-ounce catfish from a private pond in Moore County on Sept. 22, 2020. The previous record holder was E.J. Bowden, of Rocky Mount, who caught his record-breaking channel catfish, weighing 23 pounds, 4 ounces, back in 1970 while fishing City Lake with his then 5-year-old son, Louis. Stone, who is an at-large Wildlife Commissioner, caught his fish using cut bait. He had his fish weighed on certified scales at Tractor Supply in Biscoe.