The Flaming Fish—Legend Of The Killer Cat

[FIELD ETHOS]

The Flaming Fish—Legend of the Killer Cat | Field Ethos

By Kyle Wright Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life. That’s what…

fieldethos.com

By Kyle Wright

Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life. That’s what they say, anyway. For nearly 40 years, my dad loved what he did working as a fisheries biologist for Oklahoma’s Wildlife Department. He constructed habitat and conducted fish studies. He stocked ponds and shocked lakes. And he loved it. For the most part.

Dad’s winters were spent writing lake reports and before the advent of computers, that was a mundane and laborious task. Occasionally, he was called in to consult on a fish kill, and nobody walks away from a fish kill loving what they do. And then, at least once a summer, dad would be asked to consult on a different kind of incident, one significantly more sinister than a simple fish kill.

Giant catfish attacks.

Legend of the Killer Cats​

I’ve heard basically the same story from different people across multiple states, so it’s probably just an urban legend. Nevertheless, there’s a tale told in Oklahoma about the driver of a Volkswagen Beetle swerving to miss a deer one night and going off the dam and into one of our major lakes. When divers were sent down the next day to see about getting the car out, they surfaced so fast they had air bubbles in their hoses. They claimed they’d seen a catfish as big as the Volkswagen.

Dad got a call one summer about a teenager that had been tossed off an inflatable tube and was treading water when something grabbed him by the leg and yanked him under. He surfaced screaming. From the kid’s knee to his ankle, every square inch of his skin had been peeled off. Nobody knew for sure what caused it, of course, but the kid’s family was convinced it was the work of a killer catfish.

The most memorable of those catfish attacks involved a young man who’d been water skiing when he lost his balance and went under. He was bobbing in the lake, waiting for the boat to swing around and pick him up when something slammed into the small of his back. The impact sent him under the surface where he came face to face with a giant catfish. The kid said that after the first impact, the catfish actually backed up and made another run at him. The second collision hit the poor kid in the neck and temporarily paralyzed him. The fish then threw it in reverse and readied itself for another charge, but thankfully, just before the catfish could deliver its coup d’etat, the skier was at the last second pulled to safety. The young man narrowly escaped with his life and soon regained movement in his extremities. The lake had been scoured, but no sign of the fish had been found.

The Flaming Fish Strikes​

That was the report relayed at the supper table, anyway. Against the wildlife department’s wishes, dad said the community had lost its collective mind and was treating the catfish like some kind of serial killer. Doors and windows were locked. Wanted posters were printed. They had even given the monster a nickname. The Flaming Fish.

My brother and I were sitting at that same table the following day waiting for mom to serve us lunch when dad walked into the kitchen.

“Hey dad, what’s the word on the Flaming Fish? You caught him yet?”

Dad just shook his head and collapsed into his chair.

“Son, I’ve already lost three of my best men.”

Dad was kidding, of course, but good luck convincing the Okies that there aren’t monster catfish lurking in our lakes, biding their time and preparing to strike.

 

[steve white]

Lots of big fish have the wherewithal to do great harm IF they wanted to. Fortunately, alligator gar don't want to, and I say catfish don't either.
However, every spring I see mallard hens out on the lake with a dozen or so little ones paddling behind them. Week by week the line gets shorter, and sometimes only 3 or so of the duckings survive. Eaten by big catfish? Sleeping ashore around coons and coyotes? Now, dangle your feet in the water, and you'll hear the bass notes from Jaws off in the distance.

 

[leslie hetrick]

i think the wells catfish grows pretty big.

 

[steve white]

i think the wells catfish grows pretty big.

few bigger...maybe the Mekong catfish, but they have been fished out a bit.

 

[Flbt]

The Flaming Fish—Legend of the Killer Cat | Field Ethos

By Kyle Wright Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life. That’s what…

fieldethos.com

View attachment 710898
By Kyle Wright

Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life. That’s what they say, anyway. For nearly 40 years, my dad loved what he did working as a fisheries biologist for Oklahoma’s Wildlife Department. He constructed habitat and conducted fish studies. He stocked ponds and shocked lakes. And he loved it. For the most part.

Dad’s winters were spent writing lake reports and before the advent of computers, that was a mundane and laborious task. Occasionally, he was called in to consult on a fish kill, and nobody walks away from a fish kill loving what they do. And then, at least once a summer, dad would be asked to consult on a different kind of incident, one significantly more sinister than a simple fish kill.

Giant catfish attacks.

Legend of the Killer Cats​

I’ve heard basically the same story from different people across multiple states, so it’s probably just an urban legend. Nevertheless, there’s a tale told in Oklahoma about the driver of a Volkswagen Beetle swerving to miss a deer one night and going off the dam and into one of our major lakes. When divers were sent down the next day to see about getting the car out, they surfaced so fast they had air bubbles in their hoses. They claimed they’d seen a catfish as big as the Volkswagen.

Dad got a call one summer about a teenager that had been tossed off an inflatable tube and was treading water when something grabbed him by the leg and yanked him under. He surfaced screaming. From the kid’s knee to his ankle, every square inch of his skin had been peeled off. Nobody knew for sure what caused it, of course, but the kid’s family was convinced it was the work of a killer catfish.

The most memorable of those catfish attacks involved a young man who’d been water skiing when he lost his balance and went under. He was bobbing in the lake, waiting for the boat to swing around and pick him up when something slammed into the small of his back. The impact sent him under the surface where he came face to face with a giant catfish. The kid said that after the first impact, the catfish actually backed up and made another run at him. The second collision hit the poor kid in the neck and temporarily paralyzed him. The fish then threw it in reverse and readied itself for another charge, but thankfully, just before the catfish could deliver its coup d’etat, the skier was at the last second pulled to safety. The young man narrowly escaped with his life and soon regained movement in his extremities. The lake had been scoured, but no sign of the fish had been found.

The Flaming Fish Strikes​

That was the report relayed at the supper table, anyway. Against the wildlife department’s wishes, dad said the community had lost its collective mind and was treating the catfish like some kind of serial killer. Doors and windows were locked. Wanted posters were printed. They had even given the monster a nickname. The Flaming Fish.

My brother and I were sitting at that same table the following day waiting for mom to serve us lunch when dad walked into the kitchen.

“Hey dad, what’s the word on the Flaming Fish? You caught him yet?”

Dad just shook his head and collapsed into his chair.

“Son, I’ve already lost three of my best men.”

Dad was kidding, of course, but good luck convincing the Okies that there aren’t monster catfish lurking in our lakes, biding their time and preparing to strike.

There been a story about a car sized flathead at base of the Chattahoochee damm for years.
A diver was supposed to be checking it for cracks and saw it.

 

[spike.t]

Vundu on the zambezi.....

Check out this video from this search, full length jeremy wade video on the river monsters zambezi episode https://share.google/QYZe5xk8cDi3B42ml

 

[steve white]

Vundu on the zambezi.....

Check out this video from this search, full length jeremy wade video on the river monsters zambezi episode https://share.google/QYZe5xk8cDi3B42ml

Do Vundu get over 50 kilos?

 

[spike.t]

Do Vundu get over 50 kilos?

Seen 2 big ones caught....First one was probably a bit over 6 feet ..other slightly smaller...took 2 people to carry it.....the width of the heads was big....there weren't any scales to weigh them...

 

[Flbt]

There been a story about a car sized flathead at base of the Chattahoochee damm for years.
A diver was supposed to be checking it for cracks and saw it.

And they say the ochlockonee damm is supposed to have one big enough to eat a man.
I don’t believe it myself at either place.
One of the local rednecks would have went on with a Speer or dynamite or something by now to catch it.
And I have seen both of the river really low in water.

 

[Flbt]

And they say the ochlockonee damm is supposed to have one big enough to eat a man.
I don’t believe it myself at either place.
One of the local rednecks would have went on with a Speer or dynamite or something by now to catch it.
And I have seen both of the river really low in water.

I have all ways been a little worried about the gator gar
I have cough a lot longer than I am tall I am 6’6”
I know old story’s about them being nearly 20 feet long.
And I have no doubt if they were that big they would have been man eaters