13-year-old SC boy snares monster catfish on Lake Wylie while fishing with his pawpaw

13-year-old SC boy snares monster catfish on Lake Wylie while fishing with his pawpaw
13-year-old SC boy snares monster catfish on Lake Wylie while fishing with his pawpaw(Photo courtesy of Allison Love)
Updated: Sep. 12, 2020 at 5:12 PM EDT
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(The Charlotte Observer) - A 13-year-old South Carolina boy snared a monster catfish while casting on Lake Wylie with his pawpaw.

Landon Anthony of Clover caught the gigantic fish, estimated to weigh 36 pounds. He was on one of his regular nighttime fishing expeditions in mid-August with Paul Anthony, his grandfather, who he calls pawpaw, Landon’s mom, Jennifer Hullett, told The Charlotte Observer on Saturday.

Landon hurled the fish back into the lake, knowing a fish that size doesn’t taste as good as a smaller one, his mom said.

“I’m pretty sure they just eat mud and dirt at the bottom,” she said.

Landon’s dad, Johnny Anthony, taught Landon how to fish as a young boy, Hullett said. They also enjoyed deer hunting together, she said.

Johnny Anthony died in a car wreck in 2016, Jennifer Hullett said.

Landon typically fishes with his grandparents and an uncle. The 36-pounder was the biggest fish he’s ever caught, she said.

The monster catch came to public light when Hullett said she posted the photo on a Clover neighborhood site a couple of days ago.

Allison Love, who represents Clover and Lake Wylie on the York County Council, saw the photo and posted it on her Facebook page Thursday. Landon poses in the photo while holding the fish upright with both arms. The fish stares skyward above Landon’s left shoulder.

“I will think about this every time I get in my inner tube from now on,” Love posted. “Impressive Landon!”

Love, the politician, told the Observer on Saturday: “It’s been the most popular post on my page in 3 1/2 years.”

“Omg, Lake Wylie’s Loch Ness monster has been caught!” a woman wrote in reply to Love’s post.

“That looks waaaaay bigger than 36lbs,” a man said, with three other people saying they agreed.

Another man imagined the money such a fish could bring. “That’s about $300 in fillets right there,” he wrote.

One woman called the fish “nasty,” saying it “was another reason to stay out of the lake.”

Another woman reacted with an “Ewwwwww!!”

But most on social media complimented Landon with a “Nice catch!”

“Oh my gosh that would have pulled me in,” a woman said. “Congratulations.”