State Record Cat: channel caftish? Or something else?

[Elspeth]

Found this beauty on the net:

http://www.nodakoutdoors.com/members/ph ... hp?p=31762

A catfish the size of, well, Texas. And rather than frying her up with a bit of flour, cormeal, and butter, the fishers gave her to an aquarium in Athens, Texas where she will remain on view for a while and eventually be returned to her lake of origin.

(Also, though not an ID question, is anyone else thinking of making a Pilgrimage to Athens, Texas? )

[pturley]

Here's the problem with that photo. The fish illustrated is actually a European Wels, Silurus glanis.

There was however a recent story (with an appropriate picture of at least the proper species) about a record catch in the state of Texas of a Blue Catfish that tipped the scales at 122lbs. Last time I checked the link to the story had gone dead.

I'll post it if I can find an active link again.

[Silurus]

http://espn.go.com/outdoors/fishing/s/f ... khead.html

[Elspeth]

Dang. And thanks! That picture has been making the rounds, it showed up in my husband's email so I went googling for it. The real fish is a bit smaller but still quite impressive. Makes one realize what the books (and the Cat eLog) mean when they say "Not an aquarium fish"...