Man catches 50-pound catfish in Arkansas lake — then his sister catches another one

Days after Logan Applegate caught a 50-pound catfish on Lake Conway in Arkansas, his sister decided to do the same.

But it wasn’t the same flathead catfish Haylee Applegate reeled in during her trip to the Central Arkansas lake. Hers was a few pounds lighter than her brother’s, and both were among the largest they have ever caught, according to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

They used a jug system to catch their massive catfish. Jugs often are released several feet away from one another, and when a catfish bites the bait, the jug will bob in the water, according to OutdoorLife.com. The Applegates include reflective tape on their jugs to allow them to keep a better eye on them.

It’s illegal to leave jugs unattended overnight, but the siblings stayed in the lake deep into the night to haul in their 50-pounders.

“My 50-pounder hit at about 11,” Logan Applegate told state officials. “Haylee’s big one came at about one in the morning.”

Logan Applegate caught his fish on July 30, and Haylee Applegate caught hers on Aug. 5, their dad shared on Facebook.

But in order to catch fish of this size, typical bait won’t cut it. Instead, they try to catch smaller fish to use as bait for catfish.

Haylee Applegate told state officials they often catch bream, including bluegill or other sunfish, and they aim for them to be “at least the size of your hand.”

“If we can’t manage to catch enough of those, we’ll buy black salties... but big bream are the best bait,” she said.

The largest flathead catfish caught in Arkansas was reeled in in 2019 and weighed 85 pounds, 6 ounces.

This story was originally published August 18, 2022 at 2:35 PM.