[ATOMIC_PUNK]

First protect the fish now get rid of them then do away with fishing altogether dumbarse liberals

[abclily]

Oh, my! Saw a man on TV the other morning who said that catching fish hurts them. That fishing should be banned. Who are we to listen to? Oh,my! Such confusion!

[wildbill]

What they need are some Okie noodlers. They go under water and sick their hands into likely holes where catfish hang out and let the catfish chomp down on their hands. Then they pull them out.

Of course, no one ever said Okies were smart. If they were, they'd be south of the Red in heaven on earth. :-)

[Free Trapper]

Use live bait for flathead,they don't bite well on a lot of baits used for other cats.

[prisoner6]

They're just getting the young ones. hehehhehe!

Here in Pittsburgh ask any diver who inspects the dams. When they get to the bottom it's so dark they can't see to inspect for cracks, they have to feel.

Stepping carefully and roped to the top divers in a hardhat suit slowly feel their way along the dam surface.

More than one has been startled by stepping on "something fleshy" and big that slithers up to investigate.

One guy recently related the story of such an incident. He said when the "thing" jumped up he was startled but it seemed to move away so he kept going. A few minutes later he felt something bump into him. He told the surface crew to be ready to pull him up.

The "thing" - most likely a HUGE catfish - proceeded to move around and brush up against him. He told the crew he could still feel it rubbing against his body and it was LONG. After what seemed like minutes he told the crew it passed by him. But then it came back from the other dircetion, slithering along his body. Again it passed but when it happened a third time, it jerked! He told the crew he could "see" a huge black eye pressed against the glass of his helmet!

"PULL ME UP! PULL ME UP!" he shouted!

Working against the current it took a few minutes for him to surface.

When he did the crew claimed a huge, brown/black fish or eel broke water right behind, then dove again!

The diver said he could feel whatever it was rubbing against him all the way up.

I think it happpened at the Emsworth dam, but I'm not sure.

I also have friends who work the riverboats and they have told me LOTS of similar stories.

Hundred pounds? It's gotta be a youngun!

prisoner6

[Red Jones]

In rivers in Kansas, a century ago, people used to make a living by diving into the river, they'd swim right up next to large catfish, pet them to calm them, and then stick a big hook in their mouths by surprise, then they'd swim to shore and pull them in. 100 lb fish were not uncommon.

At base of Hoover dam there are a whole bunch of very large catfish, I'm told up to 200 lbs., they just sit and wait for all the dazed fish to come down through the dam and they eat them.

[gilor]

The agency is now looking for the help of anglers to help control the growth of the species, which is not native to the river.

Just wondering what those PETA freaks think of this.

[vikzilla]

Flathead Catfish World Record Other Names Yellow cat, Opelousas, mud cat, shovelhead cat -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WORLD RECORD: IGFA 91-4+ L. Lewisville, TX 3/28/82

FHF 92-0+ Toledo Bend, TX 2/25/95

ST WEIGHT WATER DATE AL 80-0 Alabama R. 6/22/86

AZ 65-0 San Carlos L. 1951

AR 80-0* Arkansas R. 10/28/89

Ca 60-0 Colorado R. 3/7/92

FL 43-8 Apalachicola R. 1995

GA 58-7 Altamaha R. 8/2/96

ID 58-8 Brownlee Res. 8/23/94

IL 78-0 Carlyle L. 8/11/95

IN 79-8 White R. 1966

IA 81-0 L. Ellis 6/58

KS 90-0 Pomona Res. 6/15/93

KY 97-0 Green R. 6/6/56

LA 41-0 Unknown 1995

MI 47.5 MapleR. 1943

MN 70-0 St.Croix R. 1970

MS 65-8 Pickwick L. 3/21/87

MO 77-0 Missouri R. 5/19/87

MO 94-0* St. Francis R. 6/21/71

NE 80-0 Silver Creek 6/14/98

NM 78-0 Elephant Butte 6/7/79

NC 69-0 Cape fear R. 7/26/94

ND 29-6 Heart R. 1985

OH 76-8 Clendening L. 7/28/79

OK 70-14(release) L. Keystone 5/19/91

OR 42-0 Snake R. 6/27/94

PA 43-9 Allegheny R. 5/9/85

SC 74-0 Wateree R. 1991

SD 54-0 L. Francis Case 7/4/86

SD 43-0* L. Francis Case 8/22/93

SD 66-0* Mississippi R. 9/27/95

TN 85-15 Hiwassee R. 7/25/93

TN 86-0* Old Hickory L. 10/10/91

TX 114-0* L. Livingston 10/15/76

VA 66-4 Occoquan Res. 5/6/94

WA 22-8 Snake R. 1981

WV 70-0 Little Kanawha R. 1956

WI 65-0 Rox R. 4/19/87

WY 3.74 N. Platte R. 1995

+ all-tackle world record IGFA- International Game Fish Association FHF- National Frash Water Fishing Hall Of Fame

Now I realize these are caught with tackle. You do have to love a good fish story though.

[prisoner6]

Saw this on Cnn a couple of weeks ago.. AWESOME. Go Here for the video! It's COOL!

Hand Grabbin Catfish

You may need a cnn pass to view the video, I'm not sure..it's been awhile since I tried. I pulled the link up from my bookmarks.

Grabbin' catfish by hand, the old fashioned way

---

---

(CNN) -- How would you catch a 30 pound fish without using a line or a net? If your answer is "very carefully," you obviously haven't tried hand-grabbing.

Catching the wily catfish is a thrill for many fishermen and some of them have found a way to make it really thrilling. Those who practice the craft have even described handgrabbing as an extreme sport. CNN's Bruce Burkhardt reports on the return to the days of old from the Big Black River in Mississippi.

[Free Trapper]

From books I have it looks like a fifteen inch flathead would be 4 to 6 years old and nearly mature.Eighteen inchers are considered mature.In Oklahoma there's a 20 inch length limit.

The eggs are laid in a compact yellow mass that may contain 100,000 eggs or more.

Looks like some folks might be getting to do some flathead fishing.I hope they don't mess things up in their new waters.

[2sheep]

Just another sign that bottom feeders are taking over the nation.

[rdb3]

100 lb. catfish?

I got the Wesson and the tartar sauce!

[RedwM]

Did they significantly reduce the other fish populations in the rivers in the Ohio basin. If not then this is pure bullhead.

[ASDFGHJK]

cherry bombs would work nicely. Then they could ship the fish off to the welfare recipients who would eat good for a change.

[Petronski]

Holy cow! Let's see, I'll need five pounds of cayenne pepper, twelve dozen eggs, five gallons canola oil, two bushels of bread crumbs and one seriously big-ass frying pan.

[deport]

[Palladin]

Bookmarking this thread of great fish stories.

[djf]

YUM!

Love catfish, sweetest fish there is. Done right, the meat just falls off the bone.

DOUBLE YUM!

[madison10]

Are these invasive catfish edible? Fried catfish is sooo good! Just catch the buggers & sell them for top $$$.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Well, the solution is obvious. Stock the dogfish.

[Bluntpoint]

Flatheads love basketballs!

http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=20;t=001024