David Hayes said his 3-year-old granddaughter, Alyssa, had asked him to hold her rod Aug. 5 while she went inside his home to use the restroom and that's when the 21-pound, 1-ounce behemoth latched onto the line, the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal reported Tuesday.

"(Alyssa) wasn't in the house a few seconds when the catfish took off with the bait," Hayes said.

Hayes said it took him 25 minutes to land the 32-inch-long catfish with the Barbie poll and his net.

He said he and Alyssa took the fish to a grocery store with a state-certified scale and found the catfish beat out the previous state record of 18 pounds and 5 ounces, which was set in 2007.