Blue Catfish — 143 lb (2011)
Species: Blue Catfish
Species reference image — not the record catch.
Confirmed against an official or primary source as of the date shown.
Directly confirmed via DWR's own current state-record fish table. A secondary claim that this catch also holds the IGFA all-tackle world record for blue catfish is reported consistently by multiple fishing-news sources, but this project could not independently confirm it via igfa.org or an equivalent primary source during research (an IGFA PDF was fetched but its content wasn't machine-readable) — per the standing rule for this content type, no 'world' classification is added without that direct confirmation.
Virginia Freshwater State Record
- Recognizing authority
- Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources
- Record program
- Online Virginia Angler Recognition Program
- Status
- Current
- Certification date
- 2011-06-18
Official source: Virginia Dept. of Wildlife Resources — Virginia State Record Fish (species, weight, angler, date, waterbody)
Sources last checked 2026-08-09.
- Weight
- 143 lb
- Angler
- Richard "Nick" Anderson
- Catch date
- 2011-06-18
- Catch location
- Buggs Island Lake (John H. Kerr Reservoir), near the Goat Island section
A specific named place, as published by the source below — not a precise coordinate.
No Hampton Roads connection — Buggs Island Lake is on the Virginia/North Carolina border, far from Hampton Roads. Included deliberately as an honest example of a real current state record with no local connection at all, rather than forcing one. Several secondary sources (not IGFA's own site directly) additionally report this catch also became the IGFA all-tackle world record for blue catfish — that classification is deliberately not included here; see this record's own verificationNotes.
This page cites an existing official authority's own determination — it is not itself a certifying body. Always confirm current status directly with the authority linked above before relying on it, since records can be broken or updated at any time. How record certification works →