By Jaymi Firestone
We’ve all heard the tall tales of bringing in a big fish. The stories are usually exaggerated. It’s the typical way of fisherman when they come back from a day on the water. For Rodney Tivis, Mike Inge, and Roy Tivis, their fish story is anything but a tall tale!
On Thursday, November 1, they spent the afternoon on Proctor Lake in Comanche, Texas, where they’d been the whole week. Rodney said they caught 3 large fish earlier in the week; a 38-pound, a 45-pound, and a 43-pound, but nothing compared to the fish they were about to bring in.
The men had been pulling jug lines, which is something similar to the image below.
The purpose of jug line fishing is to keep the shad (type of bait) near the bottom of the lake.
Catfish are a bottom feeding type of fish, so often times, a rod and reel don’t allow bait to drop as deep as necessary to catch the larger of the species. That is why jug fishing is primarily used to catch catfish.
Rodney said, “Thursday we had pulled 26 jugs, and on the 27th jug, Mike Inge told my dad (Roy Tivis) we had a big one on the line.”
Of course at that moment, excitement filled the boat, because they hoped it was larger than the 38-45 lb catfish they caught earlier in the week. Mike pulled the line slowly to make sure they wouldn’t lose whatever was on the line. Eventually, the men saw the fish’s head break the top of the water.
“Man, was it huge!” Rodney said, “We tried getting the fish in a fishing net but our net was to small, so Mike grabbed both gills, my dad (Roy) stuck his hand in the mouth of the fish, and I was scrambling to find some place to hold the fish. I finally bear-hugged the body of the fish, and all three of us struggled, but finally to got it in the boat.”
The 3 knew they had caught an enormous fish. They weren’t sure if it would match up to the current Proctor Lake record, but knew it had a chance. They tried to weigh it on their scale, but the fish was so heavy it bent the hook.
They used a large ice chest to keep the fish alive, in order to get an official weight on a certified scale, and then be able to release it back into the water for someone else to catch.
Left to right: Mike Inge, Roy Tivis, and Rodney Tivis.
They caught an enormous 87.5 lb Blue Catfish. It was 48 inches long and 36 inches at its thickest girth.
The previous lake record was 69 lbs. caught on Father’s Day, and this one blew the record out of the water (Pun intended).
Rodney Tivis lying next to the blue catfish to show size comparison.
So, if you want a fishing story of your own, there is a nearly 90 lb Blue Catfish back in the waters of Proctor Lake. Be on the lookout for this big boy! He will give you a run for your money.
