I mean if am hunting for deer or elk, the the bigger it is does not translate into good eating, and I don't see anyone mounting such an ugly thing. So other than the pride of owning the record, what good is a catfish this big?
If it were me, I would weigh it, get a picture and then let the old guy live his life away in the river. That's just me, and I may be off base on this?
Are there any other anglers that feel the same way?
Global Warming and Poly-saturated, salt-laden, fats.
Re fishing, catch and release method for trophy catches...dinner can be supplied by the little ones.
A “real” catfisherman would have noodled that thing. :)
No. I’d do the same thing. Take a pic of the ugly thing, do some measurements and whatever is required by the governing body. Heck, I’d probably be out in the lake with a cell pohone in one hand and the fish in the other trying to figure out what to do.
Eat it? Hell naw!! That’s nasty.
Video said the fisherman was talking to a `fishing supply’ company to see if they might want to mount it their store. I’m guessing Bass Pro Shops in Springfield.
That is gonna require a lot of flour, saltines, salt, pepper, paprika, and buttermilk.
I also usually catch and release, but would not presume to tell another fisherman what to do with his catch.
Besides, in the video the fisherguy said that the big blue- boy swam straight for his boat, put up very little fight and the hardest part was horsing him into the boat.
There’s a reason they are called `blue’ catfish. These fish are very melancholy in nature by the time they reach this size. Their livers begin to fail (liverusquiveritis) and they look for ways to end it all.
Being unable to leap in to the boat like the Asian carp, I suppose he just chomped down on the hook and committed fishicide.
Catfish tend to suck the hook in really deep rather than just catching the lip like most sport fish.
When fishing for sturgeon in the Columbia River only fish between 40 and 60 inches can be kept. The bigger ones are the breeding stock and are release after they are brought to the boat if they don’t break you off first.
With steelhead and salmon only hatchery fish can be retained and the wild ones must be released. I was fortunate to have landed a nice chrome hatchery steelhead on a fly the other weekend. That was some fine eating.