By LOUIE STOUT

Michigan Record Flathead CatfishThe first time Dale Blakley went ice fishing, he wasn’t all that impressed.

“I didn’t catch a thing,” he groaned.

That all changed last Sunday while fishing on Barron Lake near Niles. He not only caught a fish – he caught a state record – and a monster at that.

With the help of fishing buddies Fred Harkrider and Mike and Justin Wagner, Blakley out-dueled a 52-pound flathead catfish after an hour and 15 minute battle through the ice.

The catfish shattered the Michigan record of 49 pounds, 13 ounces set in 2012 on the Maple River. Blakley’s fish measured 46.2 inches long and had a head bigger than a large medicine ball.

It was an exceptional feat considering Blakley was using a 2-foot Frabill ice fishing rod with a small spinning reel spooled with “either 4- or 6-pound line.” He was fishing for bluegill.

In fact, he bought the $30 ice fishing outfit at Lunker’s only a couple of days before and this was the first time it had been used.

“I honestly don’t know the size of the line but I know it was either 4 or 6 pound,” said the 45-year-old Niles construction worker. “I can tell you that when I landed the fish, the line was all messed up. I couldn’t even use the outfit again.”

The catfish bit his tiny, glow-in-the-dark jig (tipped with a waxworm) within 45 seconds after he lowered the bait near bottom in 20 feet of water.

“I noticed the spring bobber was wiggling a little and I knew that little wax worm wasn’t causing that,” Blakley described. “I picked up the rod, and man, he took off. I knew that was no bluegill.”

The battle raged for several minutes before the anglers could see the fish’s massive body in the clear water beneath the five-inch thick ice.

That’s when they realized a major dilemma – the ice hole was only six inches in diameter and the fish’s head was at least three times bigger.

“My buddy grabbed the auger and drilled a hole next to my hole and then ran home for a hatchet to chop the ice between the two holes so we could get it out,” Blakley said. “They were chopping and cutting while I had a tug-of-war with this giant fish. I was lucky we didn’t cut or break the line.”

Michigan Record Flathead CatfishThe fish finally tuckered and Harkrider stuck his hand into the icy water, grabbed the fish by the mouth and dragged it onto the ice.

Blakley wanted to keep the fish alive but couldn’t find a place to weigh it on Sunday. So, he put it in his home bathtub filled with ice and water. The next morning, he drove the live fish to the DNR headquarters in Plainwell, Mich. where it was weighed and documented.

“I really wanted to release that fish, but since it was a record the DNR said I had to keep it for two weeks in case there was a discrepancy,” Blakley said.

So, now he’s getting quotes to have the fish mounted. Preliminary estimates are $700 or more.

“I might get the rod and reel bronzed with it,” he joked.

The expense won’t end there. He plans to get a catfish tattoo on his arm, etched with “52 pounds…state record.”