Im not going to get into a google war, but sometimes you just gotta call a spade a spade!

i would have carved this fish into some steaks.....nothin better to eat than yella cat from clean-runnin river water!

Hookem, I will admit I have thought long and and about that freezer full of meat. How many lbs would have come off that hog?

Lynn, thanks for your thoughts about weight. It will forever be the big mystery.

Headed out again this weekend....hopefully I catch one or two under 50# so I can get a meal in! *wink*

My son (10) and I fish the Colorado. We have done it from Utley to Smithville for the last several years. Our best to date was about 38 pounds. The biggest challenge is checking your line before someone else "helps" you with your work.

Nice 1....

Gus, have you floated from Utley all the way to Smithville? Or do you fish it in parts? I would like to hear about your experience navigating this part of the river.

I have, not all in one day though! We have a 12' jon with a 10 horse 4stroke, it's perfact for the river in my opinion. You are not gonna break any speed records but it does better than 15 mph or so. Shoot me a PM if you have any questions, if I can help I sure will. Do you fish it with kids?

Very nice fish! looks like 55-60 lbs tops. Really doesn't matter as long as you had fun. The best part is that you released it and may catch this one again someday.
I lived in Smithville many years ago and fished from Bastrop to La Grange. Fishing can be pretty good but the fish have very oily meat and don't taste as good as fish from the Brazos. We released everything because of this.
Water quality below Austin was always very poor and only improved below La Grange.
This was in 1988-1990 and things may have changed for the better since then.

I believe water quality has improved, I have not noticed anything like that. We do release the larger fish we catch though.

That was a long time ago and I know Austin was trying to improve their water treatment. I remember there was so much green moss in the water it would clog your prop about every 100 hundred yards!
Nice to hear it is better.

I fish that same area cause it's close to my house. I had a fish take 1 of my poles. Other than that I haven't really caught anything out of that stretch of river. But most of the time I don't have the right bait either.

I am itching to go and catch this big bastard once again!

Nice fish! Especially the luck of getting out there on a day this early when she was hungry! Speaking of eating.....how many "box" fish will she eat this year? I don't even have a guess. It does seem like we have some pretty studied guys on here that could get close though.

Thanks Scooter.

I must point out that I caught this fish last April. I have yet to get out this spring, but I am eager to see if that whale is still swimming around!

Catfish fever is starting to bite for '12

beautiful fish. i applaud u on the cpr too!