Angler gets mammoth catfish

[Lee Borgersen]

                      Angler catches mammoth catfish



NEKOOSA -- A Wisconsin Rapids man didn't catch a record-breaking flathead catfish, but the whopper he caught earlier this month came close, according to Nekoosa bait shop owner.

"They were so happy," said Kathy Witt, who owns Nekoosa Bait and Tackle with her husband, Kevin.

Using a jig and a minnow, Trevor Skerven, 21, reeled in the 481/2-inch fish while fishing along Point Basse Avenue, just below the Nekoosa dam, in mid-March, Witt said. The fish weighed in between 60 and 63 pounds, Witt said.

"We didn't have a big enough scale," Witt said. "It kept jumping."

Skerven released the fish back into the Wisconsin River, Witt said.

The state record for a flathead catfish was caught March 30, 2001, in Vernon County and measured 53-inches and tipped the scale at 74-pound, 5-ounces, according to Karl J. Scheidegger, Bureau of Fisheries Management, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Flathead catfish are common catches in the area, Witt said.

"Not usually that huge," she said.



Trevor Skerven, 21, Wisconsin Rapids, caught this flathead catfish in mid-March.