Catfish Record???

[BrianLucky13]

Heard a rumor that the catfish record was shattered by 10 pounds??? Is that true and does anyone have any info???

[Scoot]

I'm hearing the same rumors. I'm waiting for a pic and more info too!

[onemagnum]

Caught last saturday, 42# 1 oz old record 33# 4 oz caught in 1991

[huntnfish]

There was an article in todays Fargo paper about it. You can go online and take a look in the sports section. The fish didn't look real good by the picture. I am assuming that the picture was taken the next day after it was weighed.

[Brad0383]

[iffwalleyes]

I have heard alot about it. I have seen other pictures too. I guess the guy in the pictures has spent alot of time fishing the lake and has said he know there had to record size fish in there. Pretty cool

Here is the story from the Forum

"Tina Willis of West Fargo caught a channel catfish so big last Saturday it became a North Dakota state record.

“We were trying to catch some big catfish and we sure did,” Willis said of her fishing outing with boyfriend Toby Mougey of Fargo.

The 31-year-old Willis, who works at Auto Owners Insurance in Fargo, used a frog for bait while fishing from the shore of Moon Lake – located southwest of Valley City.

The 40-inch-long catfish weighed 42 pounds, 1 ounce – breaking the state record of 33 pounds, 4 ounces set in 1991 on the Red River by Bruce Pannkuk of Minneapolis.

“It felt like I hooked into a log,” Willis said. “As I was reeling it in and we saw glimpses of the fish, we thought, ‘Geez, she is pretty big. She has to be a state record as big as it looked.’ ”

So first thing on Sunday, they called Gene Van Eeckhout of the North Dakota Game and Fish Department. Van Eeckhout, district fisheries supervisor in Jamestown, officially weighed the fish Sunday.

“I’ve handled a few big catfish, but nothing like this,” said Van Eeckhout. “What an animal. They set the bar pretty high, didn’t they?”

Willis said she has been fishing for a number of years, but got into catfishing the last three years. Her biggest catfish before was a 29-pounder pulled out of the Sheyenne Diversion near Harwood.

“This was pretty exciting,” Willis said. “It was pretty awesome.”

Willis’ 42-pound catfish also tops the Minnesota state record of 38 pounds set in 1975 in the Mississippi River. The national and world channel catfish record is 58 pounds, set in 1964 in South Carolina.

Willis said she plans to donate the fish to the Game and Fish Department and have a replica made to hang on the wall."

[BrianLucky13]

40 inches and that heavy, WOW!! I've caught a few over 40 inches and they were all in the high 20's or low 30's. Congrates to her!!!

[marine_man]

That's pretty crazy... did you hear about this:

One other note in Barnes County early last week a 40" muskie was taken in the Sheyenne River right in the Valley City park.

marine_man

[BrianLucky13]

I hear of a few being caught in the Sheyenne River every year!! Even 1 over 50 inches!!

[Ed Carlson]

There are some very big Muskies in the Red too.

[Ed Carlson]

A better picture of the new record channel. Tina Willis the new "Queen of the kitty's" is on the left, Toby on the right is wrangling the new record sumo kitty...all hale the Queen!

[BrianLucky13]

The muskies in the Red are uuuuggglllyyyy!!

[Ed Carlson]

They have to be....and fast too...or the sumo kittys will eat them all.

[Ed Carlson]

As if a 42.4 was not enough success for one season. Toby, Tina and crew landed 2 more way over #30 this weekend...one was a #35 plus, another a bit over #34.

So actually they have put 3 new ND state record class channel cats in the net this year.

All these new caught sumo cats were Caught and Released (CPR) unharmed.

I seen the pics of these new CPR sumos...same dark huge girthy characteristics...awesome fish.

[aanderud]

Wow, that's some fishery they have over there. Congrats to them. Is that lake part of a river system up there or is it basically "standalone"?

Wow, 3 records in a year. That's amazing. I haven't seen any post about one angler catching multiple potential records in one year since the bowfin discussion over on the rough fish forum.

[Ed Carlson]

Want to know something else that will blow your mind?

After examination...and as I suspected due to the timing of the catch .....that new record kitty was determined to have recently spawned. The state fisheries biologist estimated that it could have dumped 8-12 lbs of egg mass at that age and size. She had very recently spawned.

So...consider this once...do the math...what would that have done to the World Channel Catfish Record if caught a week earlier...one has to wonder.

[aanderud]

Well, there's always next year to get that one when it's 10 lbs heavier! That's the great thing about being able to both certify a record fish AND release it -- you know dang well it's there to be caught next year, when it'll likely be bigger just because of an added year of growth, if not due to a 10 pound egg sack. Very cool!

[aanderud]

Ed,

When you said that the fish were all released, were you including the 42 pound record?

In MN I know that it's almost impossible to get a fish certified as a record and still release it... well, at a minimum you'd be in line for a potential ticket because you transported it live to the scale, then another ticket for transporting it live back to the water, and probably a third for releasing it into water that you can't prove you caught it out of...

So many rules, so little time. I guess maybe it'd be worth the 3 tickets to see him swimming again.

[DTro]

I've caught a few over 40 inches

Channel Cat??