One Fat Cat

[ollie]

I was surprised to hear where he caught it. I lived in Alton for a few years and saw many a big cattie weighed over at that store and most of them came out of the river over by the grain elevators. I don't care that he kept it, but like others I can imagine that would taste like crap!

[crappiefisherman]

I think the only thing that tastes bad is the sour grapes in the forumn

[Seth]

Oh, puhleeeeeze.....

I bet if this was a 20 pound brown in place of the catfish, everybody would act like the guy commited bloody murder. Personally I'd much rather catch a monster blue cat than a big trout that the catfish would have for a snack....

So a 5-10 pounder doesn't have a shot at reaching world-record sizes?

Ofcourse and we all know that there are just as many 10 pounders as 90 pounders swimming in the river. The same goes for trout, bass, or any fish for that matter. That's why we catch just as many 5 pound trout as stockers. Think about it for more than two seconds next time.

[eric1978]

That's why we catch just as many 5 pound trout as stockers.

Help me out, Brother. Where do you fish?

[jdmidwest]

Some folks sportfish for big cats, and they practice catch and release too. Probably because they know that they caught him once, next time he will be bigger. I can't imagine anything out of the cesspool the Mississippi River has become being very tasty. There is an advisory against eating very much of any fish out of ole Muddy because of contamination. Who knows how many turds, cigarette butts, and human bodies he has munched on in his long life.

In Alaska, we caught and released Rainbow Trout in the 29-36 inch range all day because they grew that big with the water and the nutrients. I would not have hesitated to smoke one on the campfire if we needed a fish to eat, they were that plentiful.

In MO, I have not even came close to that in size of a Rainbow Trout. Habitat will not allow one to grow that big. Same goes for the catfish in the big rivers.

[Outside Bend]

I bet if this was a 20 pound brown in place of the catfish, everybody would act like the guy commited bloody murder. Personally I'd much rather catch a monster blue cat than a big trout that the catfish would have for a snack....

Ofcourse and we all know that there are just as many 10 pounders as 90 pounders swimming in the river. The same goes for trout, bass, or any fish for that matter. That's why we catch just as many 5 pound trout as stockers. Think about it for more than two seconds next time.

?

I never said there's as many 90 pounders as ten pounders, only that a ten pounder has a shot at growing that big. Small fish do still grow into big fish, right?

[gotmuddy]

that fish wouldnt taste good at all. To each their own.

[Seth]

?

I never said there's as many 90 pounders as ten pounders, only that a ten pounder has a shot at growing that big. Small fish do still grow into big fish, right?

Yes you are right that it COULD be a world record someday, but if you got a fish that's almost there and you kill it, then you have to wait another 30 years to replace that same fish. A 10 pound will be replaced by another fish in just a couple of years. Taneycomo's trout fishing is better now than ever since the trophy area has been in place for a while. My point is that age is such an important part of catching big fish consistently. The more fish that are growing old, the better your chances of catching a good fish.

I'm a big supporter of catfish management to increase everybodies chances of catching big blues. There's a club based out of St Louis devoted to the sport of catfishing. It's MDC's fault for making it to where those big fish can be slaughtered. Hopefully there will be regulations in place sooner than later to protect the monster fish that are swimming the waters today so that everybody in the future can have a much better chance at catching one.

I'll stop my whining. The guy got a fish of a lifetime and got a bunch of food for the table. Good job!

[Seth]

that fish wouldnt taste good at all. To each their own.

You never know. I've ate some blue fillets off a 45 pounder that was awesome, but it was also caught from a small lake and not the Mississippi River.

[Seth]

Help me out, Brother. Where do you fish?

I was being sarcastic towards the post about "a 10 pounder can be a world record just like the 90 pounder". My point was that big fish are a lot rarer than small fish. By killing one, you then have to wait a long time for it to be replaced. Catfish are looked at as "kill and eat them all" by most people. When you figure it takes probably 30 years to grow a fish that size, that's a lot of time shot down the drain to replace that fish versus the time it takes to replace a small fish.