Westlake teen catches record breaking flathead catfish

Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) - Deklan Daughdrill is Westlake’s newest record breaker, and he is only 14 years old!

With his fish weighing in at a little over 28-pounds, 14-year-old Deklan has surpassed the previous record holder’s title for catching the biggest flathead catfish, by hand.

The sport is called noodling and he developed a passion for it after watching his family do it as a child.

“Well, I kind of grew up fishing with my dad and my uncle and my whole family really, ever since I was little, I’d just go with them and everything. I just grew up with it and fell in love with it really,” Daughdrill said.

After practicing for at least three years, Daughdrill not only mastered the sport, but he also accomplished a dream that he can finally check off his list.

“Once I got him, I was fired up because I’ve been trying to break this and trying to catch one like this for a while now,” Daughdrill said.

Daughdrill said the keys to being successful at noodling are having a can-do attitude, being fearless and choosing the right ponds with deeper holes.

“Certain times, fish will be in different parts, sometimes they’ll be deeper or shallower or sometimes they’ll be like on the banks during springtime, spawning,” Daughdrill said.

Although it is his first catch, Deklan’s father said it won’t be his last and they have more records to break, as they spend the rest of their summer attending fishing tournaments with their next stop in Oklahoma.