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Colossal catfish caught by angler in North Carolina

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, N.C. — A North Carolina angler nearly broke a state record last week when he reeled in a massive catfish while fishing on the Cape Fear River.

Photos of Riahn Brewington holding the massive fish have turned heads since they were posted to social media on Nov. 23.

"I didn't realize how big he was until I actually got my hands underneath him," Brewington told WWAY.

He told the news station the fish weighed in at a whopping 112 pounds – just five pounds short of the state record.

"In the water, it felt like it was pretty big but … being that big I thought it would have already snapped the line," Brewington told WWAY.

Brewington shot some photos with the colossal catfish before releasing it back into the river his friend, Dean Hall, wrote in a Facebook post.

A man set the state record for blue catfish in June after he reeled in a 117-pound fish from Lake Gaston, according to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.