The 124-pound blue catfish pulled Tim Pruitt's boat around the river. It took Pruitt more than 30 minutes to land it.
Handout from Illinois DNR Link- http://www.usatoday.com/sports/2005-...-catfish_x.htm

But this is no fish story. Early Sunday, Tim Pruitt caught a 124-pound blue catfish.

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, eight 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 a half 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 was to be put on display in a tank at the Cabela's Outfitter store in Kansas City, Kan., but it died during transport, according to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

Pruitt, 33, of Godfrey, Ill., 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."
The 124-pound blue catfish pulled Tim Pruitt's boat around the river. It took Pruitt more than 30 minutes to land it.
Handout from Illinois DNR

But this is no fish story. Early Sunday, Tim Pruitt caught a 124-pound blue catfish.

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, eight 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 a half 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 was to be put on display in a tank at the Cabela's Outfitter store in Kansas City, Kan., but it died during transport, according to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

Pruitt, 33, of Godfrey, Ill., 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."

(Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. )


That beat the record by 40 pounds! wow! what pound test line was he using!

 

Yea.....I saw that on my local news (he caught it about 45min from me) That was one UGLY fish!!!!!!!

 

Yea I seen it to. Caught it about 2 hours from me.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] That's a big catfish, you can bet there's a bigger one out there somewhere. I plan to spend a weekend on the Mississippi to try and find out.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

That's a great story. We catch 30 pounders on the Red river in North Dakota and they give a pretty good fight. Can't immagine having 4 of them on my line at once. I bet that thing was just nasty looking.

 

Wow bet thats a BIG fish.

 

What a monster!!!

 

They were going to put it in the cabelas aquarium but it died in transport.

I would guess that because it was so big that just being horsed around on land damaged the fish internally.

 

yea i did hear about that, would of been cool to have it in the aquarium, well, i'm guessing its going to the taxidermist?

 

I bet the only reason it was being transported to Cabelas was because of money. The guy probably could have just let it go after weighing it, instead of trying to get it to Cabelas and get paid. Who knows for sure??

 

Oh yeah no doubt it was for money, he was getting paid big bucks so the public could see it, i do not know if they are going to still give him the money even after it died, they should because they offered, heck of a wall hanger though, that lucky taxidermist! i bet what their gonna do now is make copies of the fish at a taxidermy and put them in multiple stores, now having said that, he probably willl get paid.