A Fish Story

[007]

A guy who lives at Lake Conroe, 50 miles north of Houston, saw a ball bouncing around kind of strange in the lake and went to investigate. It turned out to be a flathead catfish that had apparently tried to swallow a basketball which became stuck in its mouth!!

The fish was totally exhausted from trying to dive, but unable to, because the ball would always bring him back up to the surface. The guy tried numerous times to get the ball out, but was unsuccessful. He finally had his wife cut the ball in order to deflate it and release the hungry catfish.

You probably wouldn't have believed this, if you hadn't seen the following pictures:

 

[Ringel05]

I better stock up on those for resale! The new catfish lure!

 

[strollingbones]

ahhh good for them...happy ending to a fish story..thanks for sharing that...and you got to love the pics

 

[Valerie]

A guy who lives at Lake Conroe, 50 miles north of Houston, saw a ball bouncing around kind of strange in the lake and went to investigate. It turned out to be a flathead catfish that had apparently tried to swallow a basketball which became stuck in its mouth!!

The fish was totally exhausted from trying to dive, but unable to, because the ball would always bring him back up to the surface. The guy tried numerous times to get the ball out, but was unsuccessful. He finally had his wife cut the ball in order to deflate it and release the hungry catfish.

You probably wouldn't have believed this, if you hadn't seen the following pictures:

Wow! Great pics!

 

[007]

People put so much time and effort and take such pride in making up a batch of 'stink bait' for catfish fishing. Hell... just tie a string around a basketball and throw it in the water...

 

[007]

I'm going to put this to the test. Next year I'm going to take a fishing trip over the Mississippi, tie some heavy fish line around a basketball and throw it in the river. If a big old cat, or something else, tries to swallow it, I'll have one of the best fish stories to tell ever. I'll have done it rather than read about it.

 

[Dis]

Um. A) How'd she/they get the catfish to the boat? B) How'd she/they hold it still long enough to slice through the basketball?

That's not a small fish, and basketballs aren't all that thin...

 

[007]

Um. A) How'd she/they get the catfish to the boat? B) How'd she/they hold it still long enough to slice through the basketball?

That's not a small fish, and basketballs aren't all that thin...

I guess the fish didn't have enough energy to swim away. It had wore itself out trying to dive with the ball in it's mouth, so they were easily able to come up to it in a boat. Looks like they just moved it towards the boat with an oar in one pic.

 

[Dis]

Um. A) How'd she/they get the catfish to the boat? B) How'd she/they hold it still long enough to slice through the basketball?

That's not a small fish, and basketballs aren't all that thin...

I guess the fish didn't have enough energy to swim away. It had wore itself out trying to dive with the ball in it's mouth, so they were easily able to come up to it in a boat. Looks like they just moved it towards the boat with an oar in one pic.

Ahh. Curious, cuz the dude's standing in less than 2' of water with nothing tied around, or attached to the fish

(Sorry.. I tend to pick internet pics apart..)

 

[007]

Um. A) How'd she/they get the catfish to the boat? B) How'd she/they hold it still long enough to slice through the basketball?

That's not a small fish, and basketballs aren't all that thin...

I guess the fish didn't have enough energy to swim away. It had wore itself out trying to dive with the ball in it's mouth, so they were easily able to come up to it in a boat. Looks like they just moved it towards the boat with an oar in one pic.

Ahh. Curious, cuz the dude's standing in less than 2' of water with nothing tied around, or attached to the fish

(Sorry.. I tend to pick internet pics apart..)

By God you're right... he is standing in shallow water. I thought they were in a boat since that one pic has them moving the cat with an oar. You don't think someone would have caught the fish and then stuffed that basketball in it's mouth just to see if it fit, and then made up the story? ...

 

[Dis]

I guess the fish didn't have enough energy to swim away. It had wore itself out trying to dive with the ball in it's mouth, so they were easily able to come up to it in a boat. Looks like they just moved it towards the boat with an oar in one pic.

Ahh. Curious, cuz the dude's standing in less than 2' of water with nothing tied around, or attached to the fish

(Sorry.. I tend to pick internet pics apart..)

By God you're right... he is standing in shallow water. I thought they were in a boat since that one pic has them moving the cat with an oar. You don't think someone would have caught the fish and then stuffed that basketball in it's mouth just to see if it fit, and then made up the story? ...

About as likely as "Here, you hold the fish while I stab a knife toward the fishes head; don't worry - he's too small to get away if we piss him off"." followed by "ok, hold him still while I go back and get the camera again" followed by "Ok, I have the camera, " NOW you can take the ball out of the fishes mouth"..

That fish looks about as long as I am tall.. (shut UP, Gunny).

Call me skeptical, but it seems a little fishy to me.

 

[Dis]

Oh, and dude's bone dry for someone that would have had to hold a giant fish, so a *female* can get near it with a knife...

Hell.. He's so dry, you can see the dry skin of his elbows.

 

[AllieBaba]

It doesn't seem fishy to me. Catfish will eat anything, can grow to immense size, and those pictures look real.

I would be reluctant to handle it, however, due to the barbed spines in a catfish's head and front fins. But it doesn't look to me like it's moving much.

My cousin was swinging a burlap sack full of catfish once and one worked it's way up inside the bag and speared his hand completely through. My dad had to use wire cutters to cut the barbed tip off and pull it back through his hand.

 

[Dis]

It doesn't seem fishy to me. Catfish will eat anything, can grow to immense size, and those pictures look real.

I would be reluctant to handle it, however, due to the barbed spines in a catfish's head and front fins. But it doesn't look to me like it's moving much.

My cousin was swinging a burlap sack full of catfish once and one worked it's way up inside the bag and speared his hand completely through. My dad had to use wire cutters to cut the barbed tip off and pull it back through his hand.

Right.. So how'd they grab it, restrain it, pop the ball, grab the camera, and stay bone dry the whole time while not dealing with an angry oversized (and likely hungry, since it looks like he missed lunch) fish?

 

[AllieBaba]

Dumbshit, did you not read the story? The fish was bobbing in the water. And you don't GRAB fucking catfish. They did exactly what I would have done. Poke the ball and very carefully pull it out, from the top, without touching the fish.

Cat fish aren't big on struggling, btw, even when they haven't been bobbing for God knows how long. They are slow, cumbersome, bottom feeding fish, even when they're small and relatively agile. They tire quickly as you'd know if you'd ever seen any brought in. They come in essentially motionless.

 

[Dis]

Dumbshit, did you not read the story? The fish was bobbing in the water. And you don't GRAB fucking catfish. They did exactly what I would have done. Poke the ball and very carefully pull it out, from the top, without touching the fish.

Cat fish aren't big on struggling, btw, even when they haven't been bobbing for God knows how long. They are slow, cumbersome, bottom feeding fish, even when they're small and relatively agile.

I read exactly what was posted, and that is what I questioned, "Dumbshit".

 

[AllieBaba]

AND they can survive for a really long time out of the water. They look dead, but they aren't. You can take a cat fish that has been out of the water for hours, put it in a horse trough, and it will revive and live in your horse trough.

Until a coyote snags it, that is.

Because they're so ridiculously slow even a fucking dog can catch them in water.

 

[AllieBaba]

Well, dumbshit, you must have missed this:

"The fish was totally exhausted from trying to dive, but unable to, because the ball would always bring him back up to the surface. "

How many catfish have you hauled in? And you must be pathetic outside if you can't be in 2 feet of water without getting your elbows wet.

I'm assuming someone ELSE is taking the picture, btw.

 

[Dis]

Well, dumbshit, you must have missed this:

"The fish was totally exhausted from trying to dive, but unable to, because the ball would always bring him back up to the surface. "

How many catfish have you hauled in? And you must be pathetic outside if you can't be in 2 feet of water without getting your elbows wet.

I'm assuming someone ELSE is taking the picture, btw.

Sorry, Allie.. I don't hang with bottom feeders... That would explain your extensive knowledge of them, though.

You want to be as bitch because I questioned something I found unbelievable, bring it.

 

[007]

Since my father was an avid fisherman, I've done my share of fishing, whether I wanted to or not. I've caught Bullheads, Channel Cats and Cat Fish. Yes they tire quickly, yes they're bottom feeders, and also they hang out very near a lake or rivers edge in small, shallow pockets of water where there isn't much of a current, because they do tire quickly. So bottom line, could it have been staged, I'm sure it could have. Was it, I'd have to go with I doubt it.