I beg to differ. I tried one over 40 and it will never happen againWe have caught and eaten many blues over 50 and a few over 70. Not much difference in the meat. Definitely not tough.
I beg to differ. I tried one over 40 and it will never happen againWe have caught and eaten many blues over 50 and a few over 70. Not much difference in the meat. Definitely not tough.
AbsolutelyDoes a catfish that old still reproduce?
Great jobs . Congratulations on the record. Nice fish .This has been a discussion between several of us members this mornin. Kill this fish just to be in a record book or release?
Personally, I don't see the use in killing a fish that old. Record or not, a fish that size should have been released to fight another day.
The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks Fisheries Bureau has certified a new state record blue catfish. Eugene Cronley, the lucky angler from Brandon, caught the 131 pound fish on April 7, 2022 from the Mississippi River near Natchez. Mr. Cronley said that it took him forty minutes to land the huge fish, "it is truly a fish of a lifetime."
The fish shattered the previous rod and reel record of 95 lbs. caught by Dakota Hinson in 2009 and is larger than the trophy record blue catfish of 101 lbs. caught by the team of Freddie Parker and Brad Smith in 1997. Interestingly, both of those fish were also caught from the Mississippi River near Natchez.
Mr. Cronely caught the fish with a rod and reel using skipjack herring as bait.
mount it... be a great additionPersonally, I don't see the use in killing a fish that old. Record or not, a fish that size should have been released to fight another day.
Totally agree !!Being from Mississippi I hope he gets the recognition he deserves. All the Facebook game wardens are probably flipping out that he kept it.
Any catfish over about 8 pounds coming out of the Mississippi River south of the Ohio or anything in the delta is absolutely chock full of Mercury and PCBs. No way in hell would I eat anything out of the Mississippi.
This has been a discussion between several of us members this mornin. Kill this fish just to be in a record book or release?
Personally, I don't see the use in killing a fish that old. Record or not, a fish that size should have been released to fight another day.
I see your point about CPR, catch, photograph, release. I did that with a 57 inch blue with a 36 girth. Estimated at 95 pounds in mid July, freshly spawned out and skinny Fish had made many contributions to the TN River at Kingston on Watts Bar already. It would have pushed the 108 mark easy pre spawn. No big deal. It just felt like the right thing to do. Any way I have no problem catching spawning cats and eating young cats. Barely even had a chance to live. What else is a 100 pound plus cat going to accomplish. Some cultures value elderly over babies, some value babies over elderly. In America we get to choose.
It's a dang catfish there are plenty of them
I assure you when I catch the state record flathead
I will keep it and feed it to @gasman
He won't know any difference
Because I guarantee he didn't eat it. at least I hope he didn't. Nothing swimming in our polluted waters that has been there that long to get that big is free of toxins and pollution.Kill it and get the record. Doesn't stop us from killing trophy bucks, why should fish be any different?
yeah those doo doo fed trashville cats do get big. i bet they tasty too.It's a dang catfish there are plenty of them
I assure you when I catch the state record flathead
I will keep it and feed it to @gasman
He won't know any difference