Zakk Royce, 25, broke the North Carolina record for catching the largest catfish twice in 18 hours, catching fish weighing in at 91 and 105 pounds. Photo By Blues Brothers Catfish Guide Service, LLC/Facebook

HENRICO, N.C., Dec. 24 (UPI) -- A North Carolina man broke a state record twice in 18 hours by catching two catfish each weighing over 90 pounds.

Zakk Royce, 25, caught his first record breaking catfish while fishing at Lake Gaston on Sunday. Shortly after having it certified, he managed to reel in an even bigger one.


"Our very own Zakk Royce caught a North Carolina blue cat record at 91 pounds yesterday. Got it certified, released it and decided to fish some more. 30 mins later broke the record a gain with this 105 pound blue!" a post on Blues Brothers Catfish Guide Service's Facebook page read.

Unable to find a nearby place to have the first fish weighed on Sunday, Royce was forced to keep the fish alive through Monday morning when he would be able to have the record verified.

"I had to babysit the fish all night long with the help of my dad," Royce told North Carolina Sportsman. "We took turns every hour pumping freshwater in the livewell. In the morning, we took it to the Lake Gaston Ace Hardware and had it weighed and certified by a biologist."

After having the record certified, Royce pointed out that he had some bait left over and he and his father decided to do some more fishing.

Within 30 minutes Royce had hooked the 105 pound catfish that made his record-setting day even more special.

"It's like a dream come true," he told the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald. "It has always been my goal to break the state record for blue catfish, but to reach that goal and then break my own record a day later...wow, that's all I can say."