large cat

[Just4fun]

If I could post a picture a would, but instead I'll post the link

muskiefix.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=592

[DARK30]

This isn't just a big cat. Its the new world record.Mekong River or bust! Heres another link (AOL news) .....

http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20050630080109990009&ncid=NWS00010000000001

[pikerliker]

Hey Dark 30 could you post this picture on the open water site? I just got done starting a post there about this fish, but I don't know enough to post a picture or web site. This thing is a real monster!

~piker

[DARK30]

Rick? Dennis? Could one of you guys post that pic? Thanks.

[hanson]

Here you go Dark, I posted it in the Open Water Forum also.

Fish Whopper: 646 Pounds a Freshwater Record

Researchers cite Thai catch to stress extinction dangers

MSNBC

Updated: 12:42 p.m. ET June 29, 2005

Thai fishermen netted a catfish as big as a grizzly bear, setting a world record for the largest freshwater fish ever found, according to researchers who studied the 646-pound Mekong giant catfish as part of a project to protect large freshwater fish.

“It’s amazing to think that giants like this still swim in some of the world’s rivers,” project leader Zeb Hogan project leader said in a statement. “We’ve now confirmed now that this catfish is the current record holder, an astonishing find.”

“I’m thrilled that we’ve set a new record, but we need to put this discovery in context: these giant fish are uniformly poorly studied and some are critically endangered," added Hogan, a fellow with the World Wildlife Fund, which is partnering with the National Geographic Society. "Some, like the Mekong giant catfish, face extinction.”

'Largest fish species disappearing'

Hogan said his study of giant freshwater fish "is showing a clear and global pattern: the largest fish species are disappearing.

"The challenge is clear," he added, "we must find methods to protect these species and their habitats. By acting now, we can save animals like the Mekong giant catfish from extinction.”

Hogan's project includes two-dozen other species, including the giant freshwater stingray, the dog-eating catfish, the dinosaur-like arapaima, and the Chinese paddlefish – "all of which remain contenders for the title of the world’s largest fish," the researchers stated, pending the final results of their work.

"Long shots for the title include caviar-producing sturgeon, goliath Amazon catfish, giant lungfish, razor-toothed gars, massive cods, and Mongolian salmon," they added.

Didn't survive capture

The Mekong giant catfish was caught and eaten in a remote village in Thailand along the Mekong River, home to more species of giant fish than any other river in the world, the researchers said.

Local environmentalists and government officials had negotiated to release the fish so it could continue its spawning migration in the far north of Thailand, near the borders of Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and China, but the adult male later died.

The researchers said the Mekong giant catfish is declining as a species due to habitat destruction and upstream dams.

The Mekong River Basin is home to more species of massive fish than any river on Earth, they added, and Mekong fish are the primary source of protein for the 73 million people that live along the river.

[The Yeti]

I'll post the same thing here that I posted on the open water forum. If I am wrong, so be it, but we have all seen way too many pics of stuff like this (thanks to technology) that have been false.

"A 600 pound catfish?!?! Ya right. Give this story a week or so and it will be found out that it's a hoax or what is more commonly referred to as "urban legend"

[fiskyknut]

Yeti this one is probably true, I have seen pics of those things before over 400. I'll believe it for now.

Frogs they use for bait must be 10#.

[hanson]

I think a story like that is worth posting. Whether its true or not, I wasn't there to see the fish so it could be just another fish story.

My hunch is it probably is true.

-The Mekong Catfish is not only the largest growing catfish in the world, it is the largest growing freshwater fish too.

-You can actually search the web for Mekong Catfish and pull up all sorts of photos of fish caught that are absolutely huge (like Fisky eluded too).

-We've all also seen photos of the Wels Cats in Europe. Those are some big fish also!

-It is kind of like the flathead & blue cats in the states here. 30-50 pound fish are not that uncommon, and then somebody goes and catches a 120+ plus fish that sets a record. If a 150 pound Mekong cat is a regular catch, multiply that by a factor of 4 and you have a 600 pound fish to set a record.