Man Hooks World Record 124-Pound Catfish

[Musashi22]

Man Hooks World Record 124-Pound Catfish

ALTON, Ill. - It sounds like the sort of tale Mark Twain might have cooked up: A man fishing in the Mississippi River hauls in a blue catfish roughly the size of a sixth-grader. But this is no fish story. Early Sunday, Tim Pruitt caught a 124-pound blue catfish.

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To get a sense of just how big that is, the state record holder was a mere 85 pounds and the world record holder tipped the scales at 121 pounds, 8 ounces.

Now, Pruitt, whose fish has already been weighed in the presence of a conservation police officer and measured by a biologist for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, is expected to submit documentation to the International Game Fish Association so that it can be certified a world record holder.

Once that is done, the catch should be approved as the world's largest blue catfish, replacing the current champion that was caught Jan. 16, 2004, in Lake Texoma, Texas, said Becky Reynolds, a spokeswoman for the association.

Pruitt's fish, measuring 58 inches long and 44 inches around, was swimming below the Melvin Price Lock and Dam on the Mississippi River at Alton on Saturday night when it grabbed Pruitt's line. The two struggled for more than half an hour, and at one point the fish dragged the boat carrying Pruitt, his wife and a friend before Pruitt could reel it in.

The fish has been kept alive and will be on display in a tank at the Cabela's Outfitter store in Kansas City, Kan., according to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

Pruitt, 33, of Godfrey, told the (Peoria) Journal Star's outdoors columnist that he considered releasing the fish in the river but decided to donate it to Cabela's "because I thought it might be neat to give people a chance to see a fish that massive."

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Thats a big fish... :blink:

[Shadow Dragon]

****! He caught Jaws!

[dougal.s]

Wows! That thing weighs almost the same as I do!!

Dougal.

[jerry]

Looks like the one from "Big Fish", though that one was black & not real :p

[The Jorge]

Looks like the one from "Big Fish", though that one was black & not real :p

585969694[/snapback]

I was thinking just that when I saw the picture. :laugh:

[GameOverRob]

whoa!

[vincent]

I wonder how much do these monster's get? And how long is it until we see the next record breaker

[giga Veteran]

The two struggled for more than half an hour, and at one point the fish dragged the boat carrying Pruitt, his wife and a friend before Pruitt could reel it in.

yowsas!

[Mx]

Oh my god.

[Zirus]

Any one want fish for dinner? :drool:

[Musashi22]

Any one want fish for dinner?  :drool:

585969807[/snapback]

Looks like that fish would last a couple of weeks, or maybe a month or 2. :laugh:

[Cero]

I like how he looks like he's not even trying to hold it up, even though it's 124lbs (pretty heavy to just hold there). :rolleyes:

[Premgenius]

dam

[MartiMcFly]

Yeah nice way to finish a maybe 8 year old fish by sticking it in a f**king tank.

[Shadow Dragon]

Man, if it was alive that means that the fish is alive in that picture! He's MAD!

[Fighter-X]

124 POUNDS??!?!? AWESOME! Wonder how he can carry that. :woot:

[NeoXY]

wow...I'm surprised that the fishing rod didn't break in half or something...:laugh:...but that is wow....damn.... :wacko:

[Plastique]

where in the world does a 6th grader weight 124 lbs! I',m 20 and weigh 132, and all the 6th graders i know (my lil' sisters friends) cant weight more than 80.

anyway...big fish. o.o

[gdodson]

That fish died on the way to the tank where it would've been kept. It is thought to be 30 or more years old.

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

What the.. I didn't know fish could live that long. Too bad the fish died. It was damn big.

where in the world does a 6th grader weight 124 lbs!  I',m 20 and weigh 132, and all the 6th graders i know (my lil' sisters friends) cant weight more than 80.

anyway...big fish. o.o

585983363[/snapback]

The size of a 6th grader, not the weight.

[L3thal Veteran]

Look at the size of that fish...:o