http://www.fox4news.com/story/28858429/giant-catfish-caught-in-grapevine-lake

Nice fish. Just suprised it made the news. Anyone else feel that way?

eh, nice feel good story. could have been a friend or family member that wrote it for fox4news.

That must be about 60 years of fish sure wish we could protect them.

Hate to see such big fish being killed! It's not like they taste good anyway!

I wrote them an email expressing my displeasure with their story. I suggest you do the same. I do not think it is newsworthy and in my opinion glorifies the harvest of large catfish.I suggested that they instead do a story on the state legislature's refusal to allocate millions of dollars in dedicated federal funds to TP&WD so they can "balance" the budget.

At the end of 2014, the Game, Fish, and Water Safety Account had a balance of approximately $94M. That is $94M that can only be spent on parks and wildlife... But the legislature isn't spending it elsewhere...they are using g this surplus to offset their deficit spending elsewhere...hence they are "balancing the budget".

Hi BrianTx01. I'm sorry to change the subject but your post caught me off guard . What is the general consensus in the cat fisherman's community on size limits for catch and release. I'm new to cat fishing in Texas and have never caught 20+ lb. cat fish, but if I did and took it home and posted pics I would hate to be flamed and find out It would have been better to release it. Also a fisherman told my son that when cat fish get too big they are not good tasting anymore. Can someone enlighten me what size would be too big for the dinner table. Thank you.

From the article:

So what did the Robles do with 100-plus pounds of catfish?

�We invited both of our families and some friends and we had a huge fresh fish fry. There was so much fish and we still have so much left over. We even gave friends bags of fish to feed their families,� Jennifer said.

You catfishermen are getting as bad as the bass guys about keeping a big fish.

I don't do it, I don't care if you do it, they fried a bunch of fish and gave some fish away. A couple of fish are gone from a huge lake. No laws were broke, no fish were wasted. What's the big deal?

I'm no expert on the subject but the 3 to 5 pound fish is the best eating in my opinion. I rarely ever keep any fish over 5 pounds. The smaller fish are easier to clean and cook up better for me. If your looking for catfish to eat I see no reason to keep any fish over 10 pounds.

I agree, UNLESS it is a flathead!!!

Laws and morality/ethics are two different things. Any member of this community has the right to express their opinion as to whether or not the harvest of a particular size of fish is justified. The fact that it legal is not relevant.

Secondly, comparing bass fisherman to catfisherman is not valid because bass anglers do not keep any fish.

Personally, I like to harvest fish between 5 and 10#. This way I only have to clean a few fish and I get a lot of good tasting fish. Cleaning really large fish is difficult and messy.

There are a several good reasons to release large fish. First, a 30# fish will grow to be a 50# fish much more quickly than a 5# fish. Secondly, a fish that has grown to be 30#+ has superior genetics. Many fish can live to be 20+ years and never pass 20#s. Third, I don't want to eat anything that has been in Grapevine Lake for 20+ years.

Slamming people for keeping Legally caught and kept fish does Not help CPR!!! If someone jumps on me about something that is legal you can bet your butt I will disagree with ya on general principal!! Education, not slamming is the key here and contacting TPWD and your legislature!!!

I can see your point, perhaps you should invite fox 4 on a trip and you can tell the CPR story.

Might just do that!!!