Catfish capers

[argyll]

The following photo appeared on a number of US forums with the attached text.

 

 

 

'For those of you who aren't Texans or, God forbid, Oklahomans, Lake Texoma, as the name implies, lies along the border of the two states. This is a picture of a catfish that a guy recently caught at Lake Texoma. According to the news, he was fishing from the shore with a 20 pound test line. When he realized what a huge fish he had caught, he stayed in the water with it and kept it close to shore with his hands. He used his cell phone to call a friend and tell him to bring a scale. The friend got there and the scale topped out at 100 pounds. They took it to the nearby Bait shop and weighed it there. It weighed 121 pounds! Luckily a Game Warden was there and called the Athens Freshwater Fisheries Center and asked them if they wanted the fish. They sent a 'live truck' to the site and brought the fish safely to Athens. They are getting it ready for the public to view. The paper said that it would be two to three weeks before they'd release into the public tank. They estimated that the 121 pound catfish was about 27 years old!'

 

Looks good but it was so obviously well over 121lbs and appeared to be a european wels catfish. But I'm not into catfish so what do I know and maybe there were wels catfish in Lake Texoma. Still looked a bit short on weight.

 

Then a few days later, presumably after the picture had reached the italian catfish community this further picture appeared courtesy of a River Po fishing guide.

 

 

Hi Guys, his picture, this fish and this place sound familiar to me. For sure don't come from Texas! this fish is a over 7' Wels Catfish (silurus glanis) caught by Lucas Van der Geest in the River Po, Italy, just one hour drive from my home! It is more than 121 pounds... http://www.grupposiluro.it/Album/AlbumYuri/2big.jpg

 

 

...ah that's better. Clever fake though. Just a shame that the story didn't back it up. I love the look on the face of the little guy on the left.

 

[ 20. April 2005, 12:52 PM: Message edited by: argyll ]

[Slack lines]

Damn good fake, I've looked at them both several times and they BOTH look authentic :confused:

It would be nice to know what the real weight of the fish is. What do you think 180lb or more???

[argyll]

Budgie is yer man for 'guess the weight of the catfish' But I would say 180lbs is probably not too far out.

[WickerDave]

187.4lbs according to the genuine (probably) captor, see http://xvella.free.fr/html/eng/photos/0000...07/00000713.htm

 

I don't think the photo has been doctored, there must have been several taken. It's just the claimed location that changed.

 

[ 20. April 2005, 05:17 PM: Message edited by: WickerDave ]

[argyll]

The story has made it to Snopes, thus affording legendary status

 

see here http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/catfish.asp

[Dick Dastardly]

Whats all this about then? 180lb most certainly no problem with that.Also definately the Po.So why say it was caught in the US where there aint any Wells anyway? Clever fake though I certainly wouldnt /cant spot it.Just that the BS "facts" are totally wrong!Strange! Texacoma does some big Alligator Gar though. :confused:

 

[ 20. April 2005, 07:56 PM: Message edited by: BUDGIE ]

[Norfolkdan]

It's confused me, reading all the links and that, lol

[argyll]

I suppose at the end of the day it turned out to be a bit of fun. This fish apparently has also been attributed to several other lakes in several other US states. Just shows how well a good spoof can travel. Nice fish though.

[poledark]

Surely they are different fish? Look at the way the tail hangs, and the "fin" by the litle guys hand is missing on the second pic. The spots are also different as well.

 

Den

[argyll]

two different pictures of the same fish.