Question for OLD

Rich, did u saw at one time on here u live near or at lake of the ozark? My brother was telling me about a tv show he watched saying there were man eating catfish in that lake! Some the size of A VW?? It's a pretty dangerous lake they say. Is any of this true? Sorry if I have the wrong fellow! J

Well, I grew up about an hour north of the lake. I have been down there a good bit. I would imagine those stories are fueled by the propensity of many to over indulge in the consumption of adult beverages. Now I was scuba diving there in the early 80's and shot a 22# buffalo with a spear gun. Under water it looked to be about the size of a killer whale.

And it dont matter what Rich would tell you. He would lie about it anyway. :0)

Gene

Jay, I know that you asked this of Rich, but I just had to chime in. I don't know about a lake near the ozarks, but I've seen photos of catfish being fished out near dams on the Tennessee River that would make many toss the pole, and hit the throttle full speed ahead away from Moby Dick Catfish, so to speak. I will see if I can find a link on the net.

One of the funniest things I ever saw, was a fishing show when I was stationed at Ft. Gordon, GA back in the early eighties. The show was catfishing on the Tennessee River, and they were huge. 3' long or longer these two guys were catching, and when it came time to unhook them, one guy would wrap rags around both hands to hold open the mouths and not get smashed, while the other guy went in and took the hook out. Big catfish. Anyway, the show was a half hour show, but obviously shot over a period of the day or so. These two guys were drinking beer all day, and when the show started, they were sober. But a half hour later as the show was ending, they were crocked. At the end, one guy hooked the last catfish for the show, and as he was fighting to get it into the boat, the other guy drunk out of his gourd took the super huge fish net, put it over the guy fighting the fish, pulled it down around his waist and started jerking him around the boat as he's screaming to cut it out until he lost his balance and fell into the water. Both of them guys were lit up. It was funny.

Mark
Pretty Big Catfish

There are many stories about big catfish in the Lake of the Ozarks. I know a couple of diver who have said they have seen catfish that where a good 8-10 foot long and some other stories of ones that looked like when they opened there mouth where like looking into a VW trunk. Yep could well be some real big ones in the great septic system of Missouri. It is said there is a big cage in front of Bagnell dam and the stories go that there are catfish behind that cage that if they open there mouth you could swim right in. True or false I do not know but I do know I do not fish in the lake of the septic system

The TV series "river monsters" did a episode on the lake of the Ozarks,I do believe they concluded their was big fish there but didn't catch one. When we were in Tennessee I'd see folks with catfish caught on the Mississippi river that were easy 100#+.

Google up the world's records for Blue , Chanel and other catfish. If there were some VW sized monsters they would have shown up in the last 90 years. I helped the fells land the world's record blue at the confluence of the Vermillion and missouri rivers.

I've always heard that the catfish is the only freshwater fish that never stops growing. Because of that they will lay on the bottom at the base of a damm, or anything else in the river that will cause food to drop down to them, and do nothing but eat and grow. My grandpa new a few divers for the power company that dove behind one of the damms on Lake Norman, just outside Charlotte. According to them they would occasionally see a catfish that was bigger than they were.

I say one in my younger days that had its lip against the left rear fender and the tail was against the right rear fender,1957 Chevy. Dad asked if he caught it on a rod and reel, Nole Wayne said of course I did, hand fishing is illegal(snicker)

sure,...all those fish stories are true,...rumor has it that jaws was filmed with a catfish dressed in a shark suit...

(quoted from post at 20:14:17 05/14/12) I've always heard that the catfish is the only freshwater fish that never stops growing. Because of that they will lay on the bottom at the base of a damm, or anything else in the river that will cause food to drop down to them, and do nothing but eat and grow. My grandpa new a few divers for the power company that dove behind one of the damms on Lake Norman, just outside Charlotte. According to them they would occasionally see a catfish that was bigger than they were.

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1971 or so, a gas barge hit a bridge pillar and blew up.... Divers went looking for folks and quit because they saw cats bigger than them...... This was the Ohio River..... Kid just caughtv a real big one here a few months ago.....

There"s a "National Marine Museuum,in Dubuque IA
(That may not be the correct name) thats got some
huge Catfish in Aquariums where you can see em
They"re big enough to eat a Piglet, or a small
kid. Lots of other neat things there-live Otters,
A Corps of Engineers Paddlewheel Steamboat Dredge
500 feet long, that you can tour on your own,even
go into the pilot house.

(quoted from post at 18:17:27 05/14/12) Well, I grew up about an hour north of the lake. I have been down there a good bit. I would imagine those stories are fueled by the propensity of many to over indulge in the consumption of adult beverages. Now I was scuba diving there in the early 80's and shot a 22# buffalo with a spear gun. Under water it looked to be about the size of a killer whale.

And it dont matter what Rich would tell you. He would lie about it anyway. :0)

Gene

Click to expand...

Probably!! :lol:

Just below Bagnell used to be a spot for big fish. They get stunned going through the turbines and would often just be floating along. Most come to their senses before reaching the limit cable but some don't. My mom and friend Goldie Yowell pulled in a 45 pounder like that. We used to have a photo of her and Goldie holding it up, nose about shoulder high, tail near the ground. I don't remember what is was anymore but we ate off of it for quite a while, even after splitting it.

Few weeks back I walked across Bagnell dam, and I was impressed by the schools of fish swimming below the dam and how they can be seen from 140 ft above the river.

Tommy