Sherman, Texas (AP) - It's a whale of a tale, and an angler produced a 121-pound catfish to back it up.

Cody Mullennix, 27, of Howe, was fishing from a bank on the Texas side of Lake Texoma Friday when his rod and reel went down, the Herald Democrat (Sherman-Denison) reported in Monday editions.

After a 20-minute struggle, he was able to land the 60-inch long blue catfish. He needed help from longtime angling buddy Jason Holbrook to weigh the fish.

"I was out there by myself and we didn't have any scales beside a 50-pound set," Mullennix said. "Jason brought a 100-pound set of scales. This fish bottomed those scales before we ever even got the fish off the ground.''

Officials say it's one of the largest caught in Texas.

After getting an accurate weight of the fish, the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens transported the fish back to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department facility to be put on display.

See some catfish "noodling" photos