Giant catfish trapped in Wilson Dam spillway.

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cornbread

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Giant catfish trapped in Wilson Dam spillway.

Stuck bottom feeder has emergency officials, wildlife personnel shaking heads.

By Bernie Delinski Staff Writer | Posted 10 hours ago

We have a big dam problem.

Authorities are trying to figure out how to deal with a mammoth catfish that is stuck in one of the Wilson Dam spillways.

The area is known for its catfish of legendary size, but officials said they never anticipated an issue like this.

"I don't necessarily know we have done any training on something like that," said George Grabryan, director of the Lauderdale County Emergency Management Agency. "We don't know what to do. I feel like a fish out of water on this."

Grabryan said officials can't just let the fish — which they have nicknamed "Old Blue" — perish while stuck in there. The smell alone from such a large dying catfish could be a health hazard. It's time to fish or cut bait, so Grabryan has a suggestion that could solve the problem and create the largest picnic in the history of the Shoals.

"Surely we can carve that thing up enough that everyone can get a piece of it," he said.

After all, with Old Blue stuck in the spillways, catching it would be as simple as shooting fish in a barrel.

Not everyone is on board with that idea. Florence-Lauderdale Tourism Director Debbie Wilson (no relation to Wilson Dam) wants to keep the fish there.

"This will make national news and then people will know for sure that we've got big fish to fry around here," Wilson said. "That'll just make more people come here. If we've got catfish big enough to get stuck in a spillway, that speaks for itself."

Chris Perkins, owner of Perkins Outdoors in Florence, said the trapped catfish serves to verify rumors he has heard for years.

"I've always been told there's catfish as big as a Volkswagen out there, but I'd never seen one," Perkins said.

He knows fish in this area have the ability to grow and grow, just based on stories from anglers about "the one that got away."

"They always get bigger and bigger every time I hear them," Perkins said.

John Blackwell, a local Tennessee Valley Authority retiree who has researched myths and legends surrounding TVA facilities, said to his knowledge this is the first case in the agency's history of such an incident.

"The only thing I ever heard stuck in the spillway was a log," Blackwell said. "The way those gates work, they open from the bottom. Things get caught occasionally, but they don't stay long because of the force of water."

About 75,000 gallons of water per second passes through a single spillway, he said. It's difficult to tell how large the catfish is, but for perspective, the spillway gates are 20 feet tall and weigh about 35 tons each, Blackwell said.

"It would take one heck of a catfish to be caught in that gate," he said.

He is aware of the legends of giant catfish in the area and talked with TVA divers about them. Unfortunately, it's too dark for them to see anything. "Once you get about 15 feet down, it's pitch black. They said they have felt something bump into them, but don't know what it is."

Blackwell said the largest catfish caught from Wilson Lake is about 100 pounds. He has caught one that was 82 pounds, but, like most local anglers, he let it go. "It's good for tourism to keep them in the water."

Biologists said this unique type of catfish is known as the loof lirpa and has a reputation for creating havoc every year on this date. Of course, if you spell loof lirpa backward, you can see why.

Bernie Delinski can be reached at 256-740-5739 or [email protected]. Follow on Twitter@TD_BDelinsk
 
[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=347307#p347307 said:
S&MFISH » Thu Apr 03, 2014 6:56 am[/url]"]
[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=347266#p347266 said:
Moedaddy » Yesterday, 18:47[/url]"]Wow!!!! Sad though



Sad about the story,or sad that Ahab would actually try to fish for loof lirpa?

Can't be talking about Ahab. We all know he will fish for anything....... even a negative reply to an old post. :wink: :LOL2:
 

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