Big Cat

[eurolarva]

Some guy caught this monster using 20 lb test. It weighed in at 127 lbs. Man what an ugly fish.

 

[gonfishn]

Re: Big Cat

Legend has it that they Noodled for it..If ya look there only three arms.. <br /><br />Haven't heard from ya Ralph for a while..I know your not fishn soooooo..Looks like the second or third week of June at the homestead..

 

[eurolarva]

Re: Big Cat

Give me more exact times Jeff and I will be there. I been fishing and doing pretty good. Not the kind of fishing you are into but we are eating fresh fish.

 

[JB]

Re: Big Cat

Man, GF! Just think of the Musky you could catch on that bait!

 

[jtexas]

Re: Big Cat

It's an actual rod & reel catch. Her name is Splash & you can see her in a special tank at the hatchery in Athens, Texas. Come at feeding time, you can watch 'em give her a chicken leg/thigh quarter; she eats the meat & spits out the bones. No kidding!

 

[one more cast]

Re: Big Cat

Thanks for the info jtexas. I did a search on Splash the giant catfish and found the stories quite interesting.

 

[walleyehed]

Re: Big Cat

This is the wrong fish guys.....the 121.5lb. 20lb. line-class record is the one still alive in the Texas aquarium, caught in Jan.,2004 on a 3" shad. This fish pictured, is a cat from europe at near 140lbs. quite a ways from Texoma. I'll find the correct pic for the 121...<br /><br />EDIT: I can't find the original pics of the 121.5 as they have removed the links in the pics from early 2004 for band-width space I guess...this europeon cat has fooled many, except my local fish biologist...he recognized it as an over-seas variety quickly.

 

[jtexas]

Re: Big Cat

<br /><br />oops, sorry, case of mistaken identity. She looks just like Splash...should have recognized the mighty Red, though...<br /><br /> <br /><br />looks like that poor guy on the left drowned just after the pic was snapped.

 

[walleyehed]

Re: Big Cat

jtex, I thought this was the Red too...In looking for the link to the pic of the other fish, I looked in my email I saved and found the email from our biologist that said it was not even here in the U.S....I thought it was the Red as well, my house is only 1-1/2 miles from a place at the west end that looks just like this area in the photo. Lynn says he can tell by the head shape and the length of the anal fin...says the fin is too long for any Native fish here, and Blues don't have spots such as this one. when he researched the spieces, he found pics showing the same spots, fin and head charactoristics of the Europeon Cat....when my wife seen this picture last year, she was afraid to let the kids swim.....go figure..

 

[walleyehed]

Re: Big Cat

There are pictures of a 132lb cat caught on a jug baited with a 9" gizzard shad in a bait shop at the Dam on the south side...I can't remember the name of the place, but they also have the rod/reel on display that was used to catch the 121.5...what a fish. Preston point area is where the 121.5 was caught.