Big cat could set a record

[Spiel]

Big cat could set a record

Not a state mark, would be tops for Percy Priest Lake

 

 

MIKE ORGAN • tennessean.com • February 14, 2008

 

Picture

 

Kham Payavong sounded excited when he called Don Mullins and Svan Do while the three men were fishing on Percy Priest Lake earlier this month.

 

Payavong told Mullins and Do to bring their boat to his location. He had something to show them.

 

"He said he'd caught a big fish,'' Mullins said. "He said it was a catfish so I figured it might have been 20 or 25 pounds."

 

When they pulled up Mullins and Do were astonished to see Payavong struggling to hold up a humongous blue catfish that was nearly as long as Payavong is tall.

 

It was a 72-pounder, which, if certified by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, will be the largest of its kind ever caught in Percy Priest.

 

The current lake record is a 56-pound, 3-ounce blue catfish caught in 2006. The state record is a 112-pounder caught in 1998 in the Cumberland River.

 

After stabilizing his boat Mullins grabbed a digital camera and started snapping photos.

 

"He had a hog — it was a monster,'' Mullins said. "Both of them (Payavong and Do) couldn't hardly hold it up. It was kind of slick and just so big."

 

45-minute struggle

 

Payavong, who was fishing alone, wasn't even trying to catch catfish. He was fishing for yellow bass and crappie using only 14-pound test line, a small hook and a minnow.

 

"I don't fish for catfish. I don't like to eat catfish, I only eat crappie and yellow bass,'' Payavong said.

 

But the big catfish took Payavong's minnow, headed for deeper water and the fight was on.

 

"It took me 45 minutes to get him in,'' Payavong said. "He fought me. I knew I had a big fish while I was trying to get him in. I didn't know what kind it was."

 

When Payavong got the fish next to his boat he struggled to place a net around it but was able to get rope through its gills and haul it into the boat.

 

Payavong took the fish to several places to have it weighed but was unable to find a scale large enough. He finally went to Bass Pro Shops, which weighed the fish.

 

Record designation

 

Payavong, who is retired from the Nissan plant in Smyrna, and his friends checked the state record for a blue catfish and learned it was the 112-pounder caught in the Cumberland. They were unaware records were kept for Percy Priest Lake.

 

After learning his catfish was not a state record, Payavong cleaned and then filleted it.

 

There is a chance, however, that the big blue cat still could be deemed a record for Percy Priest. Mark Vaughan, a conservation biologist in the Percy Priest Resource manager's office, is handling the case.

 

"I have contacted the Tennessee Wildlife Recourses Agency for guidance on the matter to determine if consideration can be given for lake record status,'' Vaughan said. "Record or not, it's one big cat."

[Greencoachdog]

It's just amazing what you can catch on a live minnow! Catfish love them!