"We've certified world records before and he seems to be perfectly in line with everything. I don't think there will be any problem," said Conservation Agent Danny Brown.
The laid off land surveyor from Florissant already has the state record in his pocket. He caught a 103 pound catfish in the Mississippi River some 20 years ago. Bernal's latest fish weighs in at an even 130 pounds. It is 6 pounds heavier than the world record landed about four years ago.
"We both grabbed a hold of the net, and that took us another half hour to get him in the boat because he was so heavy," said Bernal.
Janet says they were hit by a school of Asian Carp that jumped into their boat. It was a fortunate thing because they used the carp as bait. "We took one that jumped in and we said, 'That's it. You're in the boat.' So, we filleted it and he put it on the hook," said Fisherman Janet Momphard.
"I knew he was big. I knew he had to be 80 pounds. But, I didn't think he was going to be this size," said Bernal.
Bernal says he plans to talk with a fishing supply company to see if they're interested in having it mounted in their store.