big cat

[rwise]

check this out http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/science/12/01/cambodia.catfish.ap/index.html

 

[mellowyellow]

Re: big cat

try noodlin that bigin'

 

[wikelam]

Re: big cat

If they grew that big here in OK i would. Biggest one i got this year was only 35 lbs.

 

[two2canoe]

Re: big cat

Quote from the article "those in the United States<br />don't get much larger than six feet". I wonder who at CNN is pulling in the six foot cats and where at? If a four and a half foot Blue is pushing ninety pounds, what would a six footer weigh in at? We see some big cats here on the Ohio but no six footers.

 

[rwise]

Re: big cat

the lake I fish on most for cats we break 175lb line all the time. went to 300lb and now break or straighten the 10/0 hooks. Last year with my (now x) son-in-law we had one about 6’ at the edge of the boat when he (the x son-in-law) grabbed the line and tried to pull the cat in the boat. Of course the line snapped. I could have thrown him in!!! most of what we take home is 10lb – 15lb range. I have heard stories of bigger than 6’ cats being caught in the area. I’ll have to see (and photo) them to believe!<br />Richard

 

[wikelam]

Re: big cat

Biggest cat I have caught was an 82lb flathead. Caught it on a trotline, Keystone Lake. Barely under 5 foot. A six foot cat would have to be well over 120lbs. Do not think i will believe it untill i see it.<br /><br />rwise---> what lake you fish and what brand of string you use. I use spiderwire 35-50lb, never had it broken. caught some well over 50lbs on it. have landed 90+lb spoonbill(paddlefish) on the 35lb line no problem. 6\0 hooks, never bent one.

 

[rwise]

Re: big cat

wikelam<br />When I was a young man, a friends dad caught one (cat)in fort gibson that pushed 380lbs it was in the paper. I did not see it but did get steaks from it he filled his freezer and gave the rest to the local school. I have been useing different line, mostly nylon cord, when it breaks sound like a 22 shot! Ran trout lines and the were torn to sheads, some of the beads that hold the lines in place wer pulled 12 feet apart others were just gone. I have made one troutline to use next time I'm there from 975lb test nylon rope! what ever it is breaking these line I want to see, cat, turtle, whatever.<br />wise@rapfire.net

 

[Moose_Miller]

Re: big cat

If you've seen what a caught catfish does when he's on the end of a trotline, you'd understand the frayed line. They rapidly jerk their head back and forth, running their "80-grit" teeth patch back and forth over the line... I've seen steel leaders sawn in 2. I like using one of those black rubber bungee straps, about 3' long, tying one end to your anchor post and the other to the line where it goes into the water. This gives the fish something to fight with, and it has like 500 lb break strength. Real BIG lines, sawn in 2 is pretty simple... GAR!

 

[rwise]

Re: big cat

Moose<br />I'll have to give the bunji a try next time we go for the big cats! That sounds like it would help.<br />Thanx Richard

 

[wikelam]

Re: big cat

rwise---> 380 pounds??? Here are the records for Oklahoma. Would love to see any pics or newspaper clippings. 380lbs is 260lbs!! over the state record.<br /> <br />Oklahoma State Records<br /><br />Unrestricted division<br /><br />COMMON NAME LBSOZS LENGTH GIRTH WHERE WHEN ANGLER HOW CAUGHT <br /><br />Catfish, Blue 118-8 57 41 3/4 Lake Texoma 5-4-88 Dan Grider/jugline <br />Catfish, Flathead 106 60 39 1/2 Wister Lake 4-5-77 C. Clubb/trotline <br /><br />Rod and Reel division <br /> <br />COMMON NAME LBSOZS LENGTH GIRTH WHERE WHEN ANGLER <br /><br />Catfish, Blue 87-4 53 35 1/4 Texoma 3-16-03 Rusty Keeton <br />Catfish, Channel 34-11 34 1/4 25 Canton Lake 5-16-02 Bary Bond <br />Catfish, Flathead 71 49 37 Oologah Lake 5-14-98 James Skipper

 

[DJ]

Re: big cat

Ufffda!!!<br /><br />That is one SERIOUS cat.

 

[rwise]

Re: big cat

wikelam<br />never new why it was not in the record books. would have been in the 1960's (as I was in grade school at the time) and the Tulsa daily world. It was also the first time I had fish eggs. Wish I had seen it! I do not have the clipping from the paper, things like that were just not important then.

 

[two2canoe]

Re: big cat

Have you heard this tale at your local catfish hole? It goes something like:<br /><br />"A friend of mine knows a guy who is a diver for the Corps of Engineers. He was sent down to check out something at the dam. When he got down to the bottom, he saw a giant shovelhead that was easily 8 feet long. Scared him so bad he went back up and quit on the spot!"<br /><br />I first heard that one when I was about 10. Every time the subject of big cats comes up, someone will tell that one and swear that it happened just last week and that he knows the guy. Must be a bunch of giant shovels in the Ohio that have made a career out of scaring divers. <br /><br />I guess the CNN people interviewed that guy and in the interest of truth and being the conscientious reporters they are, they lopped a couple of feet off of that cat.

 

[walleyehed]

Re: big cat

River smallie, that same tale was going around in the Trenton Nebraska area about 15 yrs ago as well, only it was supposedly a "Europian Catfish".......Yea, divers gasping...the whole works... <br />On the Ok. state record....could you imagine a 108lb'r on a jug???? How many times would you have to wait for the jug to surface before taking another stab with the net....

 

[Moose_Miller]

Re: big cat

Yep, same story, about a month ago... only the Catfish was spotted at the Gavins Point Dam on the Missouri river - big as a Volkswagon. That Catfish sure gets around, don't he! lmao

 

[rwise]

Re: big cat

I have heard that story about ever dam in OK, but one of them claimed the cat was picking up 55 gal. barrels (sp?) and spitting them out! I have not found a diver that has first hand, you know. Give me a mobil crane, 55 gal of bills bait, and we'll see what hits

 

[sergioy]

Re: big cat

The first time I heard about the divers and the catfish the size of a volkswagon I was in awe (1994- 24years old). Now, every time I hear it I just smirk and roll my eyes. It is amazing to see how many people actually believe that story. The last one that told it to me was my father-in-law and his wife. about the dam at Beaver Lake in Arkansas. The whole crew of divers quit....

 

[two2canoe]

Re: big cat

What a popular story. I always wondered if it was told in other parts of the country. A couple of years ago my neighbor added a new twist to it when he told it to me with the addition that it happened at Lake Cumberlind when he was there and he saw it all. He said that the diver went back down with a spear and killed the monster cat and pulled it ashore. He said that when they put the cat in the bed of a pickup, it's head was aginst the front of the bed and the fish's tail was dragging on the ground. That would have made it 10 or 12 feet!<br /><br />Maybe he could get a job reporting for CNN.

 

[spike440]

Re: big cat

I first heard that story when I was like eight years old. The way I heard it was it was in Lewis-Smith lake in Alabama (where I lived a short distance from). <br />The lake has a hydro-electric power station in the dam, and the divers were sent down to see what was blocking the intake ducts.<br /><br />They came up claiming ten foot catfish had built nests over the ducts, and no way were they going back in.<br /><br />Now here's the twist in my story. Supposedly, a local logger decided to catch these monsters. <br /><br />He fashioned a giant hook, attached it to the one inch cable on his logging truck, stuck a pig on the hook, and lowered it over the dam.<br /><br />And of course, His truck got pulled over the dam, and is still laying on the bottom.<br /><br />This was told to me way back in the seventies, and even though I now know it's pure fiction, when I was eight it was was enough to keep me from going near the water's edge at Lewis-Smith lake.

 

[two2canoe]

Re: big cat

Love the part about the truck getting pulled in.