FOXSYLVANIA

— “Just when you thought that it was safe to swim in freshwater lakes and rivers..”

So warns another MonsterQuest episode, but I, for one, do not live in fear of monster catfish…they just don’t have, for me, the shock and awe factor.  It’s not that really big catfish don’t exist…a nine-footer was found, for example, in the Mekong Delta.  Catfish which can supposedly swallow small children whole are also said to exist in the Amazon River, where natives claim to routinely catch 50 pound catfish, with others said to be much bigger, say to around 600 pounds…that ought to feed a lot of people at Cracker Barrel or other places where catfish are served!

The episode also introduced us to “fish noodlers,” who catch catfish with their bare hands; you grab ’em by the lower lip, and it’s said to be like grabbing a wet noodle!  Remind me never to apply for such work…

Other big fish exist, like pikes, one of which is thought to have attacked a man in a lake in Minnesota.  Lake trout continue to grow throughout their life , and one of these was thought to have been as large as a 14-foot boat in a 1987 Arctic circle encounter.    Then there are alligator gar, which can weigh in at over 350 pounds.  An early 1900’s story exists of one of these slaying an alligator, and a 7-1/2 foot specimen was caught in 1910,

While no monster freshwater fish were caught by MonsterQuest on video, they are thought to be out there, but hard to find…haven’t we heard that somewhere before?