Man snags 40lb catfish out of Fort Loudon Lake

Abdul Freeman uses fishing as an escape, on Memorial Day he reeled in a 40lb Flathead catfish.
A Knoxville man reeled in a 40lb catfish over Memorial Day weekend.
Published: May. 31, 2023 at 6:37 PM EDT

FARRAGUT, Tenn. (WVLT) - Most days Abdul Freeman makes his way to the banks of Fort Loudon Lake to get away from everything happening in the world.

”This is like smoking cigarettes to a smoker, just forget about everything and puff it, this is my smoking right here,” said Freeman.

Freeman moved to Knoxville in 2018 and used the pier and kayak launch at Concord Park as his honey hole since then.

Freeman decided on the night of Memorial Day that it was time to let some steam loose.

”My normal spot was full on the peer so I came over here,” said Freeman.

Freeman originally caught a smaller fish. He knew if he used just the head, he could reel in a bigger one.

”The line goes out there and I had it, and it was a fight about five to seven minutes it took me to get it in and it wasn’t even out far,” said Freeman.

Just less than 10 minutes later, Freeman heard yelling coming from nearby, cheering his monster catch on.

”They heard it before I did literally. They were like, ‘You got a big one, you got a big one,’ and I was like okay, okay, and sure enough, I had a big one,” said Freeman.

A 40lb Flathead catfish was on the other end of his line, the biggest he had ever caught.

Freeman said fishing is a way for him to get away, saying when the reel is cast, all worries are left behind.

Someone who has fished since he was a kid, Freeman tried to fish wherever he can. He is now turning his sights to Watts Bar Lake to reel in a striper, with you guessed it, another fish head.