Is a 50# cat really big?

At our reunion this last weekend, some of my southern relatives were boasting about their monster cats. The heated discussions over what’s big…30#…40#….50#…my grandfathers 62#….until my brother chimed in. Told them they were all sissies and they don’t know what a big cat is until you get over the 100# mark. He went on to tell us about a 140+# cat caught in Virginia. I finally had a chance to look it up….and have to agree. I could use most of the cats that I have ever caught as bait for this thing
143# Kitty
Article with more pics

everything is relative to the area.

up here in the northern part of the country, a 50 pound fish is big. the MN state record flat i believe is only 70 pounds.

they get bigger down south, is all.

A good comparison is the whitetail deer. a mature white tail in texas, is the size of a yearling up here, they just don’t get as big down south(body size anyways).

That thing is gigantic. If I lived on Blue Cat waters my wife would never see me. I have to be satisfied with the great fishery I have in my backyard. 44lbs is the channel cat record here and I know the guy that caught the state record flathead a few years back 70 some pounds. the thing I like about chasing big cats is a shot at the record. Most species records are pretty old in Wisconsin but you have a chance at a monster cat. Down south chasing cats is a big deal a lot more people do it and most of the fish are kept and eaten. My bucket list includes a trip to the James river in Virginia. I was stationed like 20 miles from there in the Army and never knew what I was missing. I wish I had some of those drunken weekends back.

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I wish I had some of those drunken weekends back.

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Man if I had a dollar bill for every time I’ve heard that phrase.

There is a large difference between

You did it
You saw it
Someone you know did it
You saw one on the internet

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There is a large difference between

You did it

You saw it

Someone you know did it

You saw one on the internet

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didn’t imply that I did it, saw it, or know who did. My brother knew of it, and told us about it. Comparing a 140+ # to a discussion of 30 to 50# cats made us look like we were comparing bluegills.

BTW – looks like your red undies are in a bunch

Yes big difference.

Kind of like comparing the 50lbers we catch here to that scrumptious bait in your avatar.

As long as catch/release concept (or at least a strict selective harvest) keeps on the same track it’s been on down South, expect the record to be broken about once a year. It will probably top out over 200.

Catching 70lb blues on the big water of the Miss happens daily from St Louis and South.

…and yes 50lbs is a big fish in MN.

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Yes big difference.

Kind of like comparing the 50lbers we catch here to that scrumptious bait in your avatar.

…and yes 50lbs is a big fish in MN.

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I’ll second that.

You might be amazed at what you’d find at the bottom of your favorite river.

I am, every winter Herb!

I heard there are Blues at the Ford Dam

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I heard there are Blues at the Ford Dam

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We need ice in the worst way.

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I heard there are Blues at the Ford Dam

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We need ice in the worst way.

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I think theres big catfish in just about any river, it just depends on where its at. Theres a whole lot fewer of them but in a good northern river like around here Id bet they go over 100 lbs, theres quite a few that have weighed out close to that in the last 50 years, let alone the rare really big ones that haven’t bitten. Up north here, 150 flathead catfish? I don’t know.

A good friend of mine is a commercial fisherman, setliner, etc. His dad and grandfather were both rivermen. One day he had a 54 pound flathead sort of curled up in a bucket. Not unusual. I then asked him what the biggest cat he’s ever seen or heard of and he replied, “Well, the old man said grandpa had one where just the HEAD filled up the bucket.”