For those few that have not heard, it is true that 33-year-old Tim Pruitt of Godfrey, Ill. was fishing the Mississippi River at Alton when, about 11:30 p.m., he had the battle of his life. Tim, his wife and a friend were fishing near the Mississippi River/Missouri River confluence when a 58-inch blue catfish took hold of his line. Tim battled the monster for some 40 minutes. The blue catfish weighed in at 124 pounds, 58-inches long with a 44-inch girth. It was estimated that the fish could be more than 30 years old.

Tim, being very conservation minded, had planned to release the fish after it was officially weighed, but changed his mind and planned to let the Cabela’s Kansas City Store put it in their display for the entire world to see just how big these creatures from the deep can get. Unfortunately, the record fish did not survive the trip from Alton to Kansas City. Pruitt, the Illinois DNR and Cabela's did everything possible to assure the survival of the fish, but it was to no avail.

The Cabela’s Store released the following statement: “Despite the best efforts of our team, Tim Pruitt’s pending world-record blue catfish did not survive the transport to Cabela’s Kansas City, Kansas, Retail Store. Cabela’s worked directly with biologists from the Illinois DNR to ensure the tank was set up to handle the giant catfish and a biologist was on hand during the transfer from the holding tank to the transport tank. The biologist and Cabela’s transport team ensured oxygen was flowing into the tank and the water temperature was set to the ideal level for acclimation and transport. We regret we will not be able to share this awesome creature with the public, but plan to honor the fish and Tim Pruitt’s achievement with a replica mount to be displayed at the store, as well as a replica mount we plan to donate to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources”.

What’s in the future for Tim? He plans to go on fishing for big catfish. He and his wife Carla fish together and they target big river fish. They have caught catfish in the past that may or may not have broken state records, but released them to survive and be caught another day. By law he could not sell the fish to Cabela’s or anyone else, but I’m sure there will be some promotional work ahead for him in the future. Tim, who buys much of his equipment from Cabela’s, said he planned on getting some new rods and reels. Tim caught the record catfish on 30-pound test line using mooneye for bait. The massive monster drug them down the river some 2-3 miles during the battle.

It would really be something to be able to say, “I caught the largest blue catfish in the world”, but to also say that you blew the current state record out of the water by 39 pounds is unbelievable. Once Tim’s new record is officially verified, he can then proclaim his fame in the history of fishing. The current state record for a blue catfish is 85 pounds and the world record was set at 121 pound 8 ounces coming from Lake Texoma, Texas in January 2004.

At the present time, plans are being made to check the DNA of the fish, get an exact age and hopefully get a better understanding of how this fish reached such mass. This study could lead to many discoveries which would benefit the future of fishing, conservation and fishing habitat in general.

Article by Larry Crecelius