He wanted to beat his uncle’s record. Panhandle man sets record for flathead catfish.

A Santa Rosa County man wasn’t looking to break a state record when he went fishing on the Yellow River in the Florida Panhandle.

But that’s exactly what happened when Marvin Griffin reeled in a flathead catfish the size of a 5-year-old boy, according to Wednesday’s announcement by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Weighing 69.3 pounds and measuring 47 inches long with a girth of 34.25 inches, the flathead was enough for a day’s worth of catches. Literally.

“It was the first and only fish we caught that day,” Griffin told the FWC.

Record-breaking catches run in Griffin’s family. His uncle, James Auston Jr., held the same record between 2011-2016. Flathead catfish are a non-native fish found in many Northwest Florida panhandle river systems, according to the FWC.

Because they tend to live by themselves, they can be more difficult to catch, the FWC said.

“With Griffin’s family history of state record catches, it seems that this family takes advantage of their quality time spent on the water,” said Chris Paxton, FWC’s northwest regional fisheries administrator. “We are proud to award this state record to such an avid outdoor enthusiast.”

Griffin’s catch edged out the previous record, which has stood since May 2016, by nearly 5 pounds.

This story was originally published July 3, 2019 at 6:37 PM.