View Full Version : Catfish in The Times
There's an embarrassingly awful article on Page 11 of today's Times about the escaped catfish in the River Darenth. After the usual daily press "big fish" drivel about catfish on the Continent eating dogs and threatening children, it closes with the remark "...it may have to be destroyed because there are no public aquariums or fishponds in Britain licensed to stock catfish".
Ian is it worth your while, as a successful commercial fishery chain manager, sending a letter or e-mail to The Times to straighten them out ? They have a good fishing correspondent in Brian ("The Pursuit of Stillwater Trout") Clarke - surprised they didn't run it by him first...
As usual The Sun goes a step further with the headline"Hunt for Killer Fish".
It even states that catfish can grow to 300lb & can killl Humans!!!! & pets.
The sun too has good old Stan Piecha on their books with his weekly column, why didn't he write the article??
I might e-mail the Sun and give them dogs abuse
Not to mention it's "rows of razor sharp teeth"..........you'd be lucky not to lose a leg......lol!
[b]Smarts
The Telegraph picked it up yesterday, and I posted it under the Yately 57lb'er. But I agree that these people should be put straight. I've not read todays stories, but I am sure the Sun will make it headline news if and when it has been caught. "GOTCHA" comes to mind (if you remember the Belgrano)
I must admit i did hear a story of a nine year old kid drowning on the Ebro when he tried to glove a cat out and the hook got caught in the glove and when the fish swam back down the river it took him with it!! Not sure if it's true though.
I must admit the next time i'm on the Saone fishing for cats i'll be a little scared, never realised they could eat humans!! LOL LOL!!.
I bet there is loads of exotic fish swimming around in the rivers around Darenth.
I remember many years back, the front page of the Angling Times had a picture of a Catfish in excess of 300lbs caught by a carp angler from Lake Cassien I think. It took two of them to hold the beast up.
Can you imagine that on the end of your line?!!!
Are they catchable at this size ? You'd have to use something like deep sea gear suitable for shark or marlin to have a chance of landing the beastie - and I would have thought the terminal tackle would be so insensitive that the fish would spot the deception even with its poor eyesight.
Not to mention the herd of cattle/regiment of the Wehrmacht/entire classroom full of toddlers you'd have to use as bait, according to the UK daily press...
When i've fished abroad for catfish i have never found them to be tackle shy atall. It seems the only thing on their mind is to snaffle that live eel at all costs. We used 9lbt.c 10 foot boat rods, 85lb braid mainline and 100lb kevlar hooklinks, so as you can see pretty strong gear.
Landing them from a boat can take some time, but from the bank you can get them in very quickly.
Powerful stuff, Maximus. Can you think of any reason why they come in quickly from the bank as opposed to the boat ?
Surprisingly enough the fish was caught on Peanuts........
Or it could have been caught on the double figure carp that had picked up the peanut seconds before LOL
Could it be that from a boat you are less able to exert the force that you can from the bank? Also they can swim 360 degrees around you, even under you, giving them more options. From a bank I am sure the angler must have more control. On the other hand, having never caught one, I am probably spouting a load of old tosh!!!
I guess that if you hooked a monster, it will be playing you and not the other way round!!!!
MikeLyddon053698
27-07-2001, 13:30
I'm very surprised at everybodies response to the stories, they are all based on truth. Only last month, I was swimming on the Thames, when a very large Catfish (I'd estimate between 60lbs and 80lbs) appeared below me and bit off both my legs just above the knees. As it bit into me, I could not only feel it's hundreds of razor sharp teeth shredding my flesh, but before I lost feeling in my limbs completely, I could feel a small child and 3 horses down its throat with my toes.
This just goes to show that we shouldn't become too complacent about the fish that swim in our waters.
(luckily for me though, you will be glad to hear, my legs have since grown back and I will be back fishing this weekend).
Mike.
Like you I can only speculate and guess about Cats - I do know you often get a different type of fight when boat fishing for trout as opposed to bank fishing. From the bank they will basically run outwards, jump, or kite laterally - from the boat some fish do the same but others like to go deep, often VERY deep, and stay there making it hard to get them up to the surface. Guesswork tho'...
Is Mile Lyddon a pseudonym for Jeffrey Archer, perhaps...??
I would have believed you if you had said you lost just the one leg..
Typical fisherman, always exaggerating!! /images/forum/icons/smile.gif
Now did I tell you the story about the time I single handedly captured Moby Dick......................................
Mike......I thought I noticed fresh scars when I saw you...other than the ones where the Pike took your left arm and the border collie you were walking for that Journalist geezer....hope you're OK........Ha!
Aren't the papers unbelievable in how they blow everything right out of perspective?!....They do/can eat dogs, (that's cats, not papers...even though I did find some fish inside a paper once...)....one did in a river in Lyon, France......but it's the "rows of razor sharp teeth" that's gets my goat....
Catfish have been in the Thames for a while now, I'm sure......dumped like the carp of recent. Peter Stone was convinced he'd hooked one before now.......
[b]Smarts
Cmon lads we all know that catfish have razer sharp teeth and are killing machines, and will eats anything from frogs to small horses.
I think this problem needs adressing, maybe we should even send the SAS in to put an end to this awful creature!
If my records are correct 6 bailiffs have disapeared, pressumed dead on Hortons Boat Pool. It is believed the beasts are responsible, but as no trace has been found, no evidence is availible!
Seriously though, I read a couple of the national papers and the articles were awful, what a load of bull****. I really dont know where they get their onformation from???????
Keep It Real
Garth
I dont expect anything more than sensationalism from the tabloids, but the Times and Telegraph should surely know better.
Just to put in a slightly better word for newspapers (being one of those journalist geezers!) the story was also reported in the Mail, P11, and it gave a more sensible approach to the story, saying that the EA were trying to recapture it so they could take it to their labs in Cambridgeshire but Anglers Mail wanted to find it a new home at an authorised lake.
It still said their mouths are lined with hundreds of razor-sharp teeth!!
Clive
Rivercarper
27-07-2001, 22:45
No wonder journalist never catch any thing.
I shall be asking all my journalistic chums exactly what a catfish looks like so I know what I'm after at the next fish-in! lol.
Clive /images/forum/icons/crazy.gif
It was also in the free paper the Metro as well, I sometimes cringe when listening and reading journalists reports about a lot of subjects ont only angling as they have'nt got a clue what they are on about.... I am afraid all they are interested in is paper sales or viewing numbers and not the truth. Too many times their reports are totally inaccurate. I think you will have more chance of getting struck by lighning than being killed by a 40lb Cat... the article I read they were quoting that if by any chance it was an electric catfish it could give you a 350v wake up call..... please....
Tony
That's exactly right mate, from the bank you do seem to be able to fight them from a firmer plane so to speak, from a boat it's a lot more difficult, expecially when they start towing you down the river!! From the bank you can also use twelve foot rods which also seems to help a great deal,twelve footers would not be practical from a boat.
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