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Hotdamned what a catfish...




A 646.2-pound (293 kg) Mekong giant catfish, netted in Thailand, may be the largest freshwater fish ever found. The fish was documented as part of a World Wildlife Fund-National Geographic project to identify and study and conserve freshwater fish around the world that exceed 6 feet in length and 200 pounds in weight. Photo by Stringer/Thailand/Reuters

By DANIEL LOVERING, Associated Press Writer
54 minutes ago



This big one did not get away. Thai fishermen netted a 646-pound catfish believed to have been the world's largest freshwater fish ever caught in Thailand, a researcher said Thursday.

The nearly 9-foot-long Mekong giant catfish was landed May 1 by villagers in Chiang Khong, a remote district in northern Thailand, and weighed by Thai fisheries department officials, said Zeb Hogan, who leads an international project to locate and study the world's largest freshwater fish species.

He confirmed it was the heaviest fish on record since Thailand started keeping such statistics in 1981.

The fishermen had hoped to sell the fish to environmental groups, which planned to release it to spawn upriver, but it died before it could be handed over and then was chopped up and sold in pieces to villagers as food.

Hogan, whose work is funded by the World Wildlife Fund and the National Geographic Society, said he is planning to write a paper about the catch for a scientific journal.

"That's the best way to document this kind of thing," he told The Associated Press by telephone.

The Mekong giant catfish was listed as critically endangered in 2003 after research showed its numbers had fallen by at least 80 percent in the past 13 years.

Fishermen believe the catfish species has been declining largely because of dams and environmental damage along the Mekong River — home to more species of giant fish than any other river, said an earlier statement by WWF and the society.

I would hate to take hold of that big sumbitch up in the riverbank. Would probably take you for the ride of your life before she bit your damn arm off. What a fish!

then was chopped up and sold in pieces to villagers as food

Boy, I bet that was some good catfish nuggets.

guessing there arent a lot of "handgrabbers" in Thailand

the doc

weimhunter wrote:then was chopped up and sold in pieces to villagers as food

Boy, I bet that was some good catfish nuggets.

Can you imagine the amount of fat on that thing not to even think about the worms that probably infest that monster....I would not eat anything that came out of that river its a HUGE Sugar Ditch

That would have to be one hell of a trotline to get that hog.

I heard they have em that big at the Pickwick Dam.......

i bet that was one helluva cook out.. bet it didn't taste worth a dam either, bet it was greasy.... any ideas on how old a fish like that might be?

the doctor wrote:guessing there arent a lot of "handgrabbers" in Thailand

the doc

Sure they do...they're called BAIT

looks like some of GH22 and Choppers girlfriends

looks like some of GH22 and Choppers girlfriends

You talkin' bout the size or the whiskers??

mottlet

Photoshop I call B.S.

mudsucker wrote::roll: Photoshop I call B.S.

Naw mud, if it is they in a buncha deep doo doo as that same picture is on page 2 of todays Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper