WICHITA, Kan. _ Charlie Henning caught an 80.4 pound flathead catfish recently at Marion Reservoir that was 51 inches long, had a 36 inch girth and a mouth, "we could have fit our whole heads in with ease," said Gary Cohn, Henning's fishing partner.
Locals think it's the largest fish, of any kind, reeled in during the 50-year history of the popular fishing lake an hour northeast of Wichita.
All of the gear that Henning used to catch Moby Catfish cost less than some fishing lures.
"It was an el' cheapo outfit, a $19.99 catfish rod and reel combo from Walmart," said Henning of Sedgwick. "The line I put on it was worth more than the rest of the outfit."
He used pieces of old duck decoy anchor for a weight and bought the hooks at a swap meet for about 10-cents each. He baited them with chunks of fish he catches at the lake.
"You don't have to spend a lot of money to catch fish," Henning said. "The fish don't care."
At the lake Henning and Cohn like to throw a circular cast net to catch some shad, a small baitfish. They then put cut up chunks of shad on the two hooks on their lines.
They let the boat drift over promising areas at the reservoir and often do well.
"We caught quite a few fish that morning," Henning said. "A lot were small but we probably had six or seven keepers around three pounds. We threw them all back, but it would have been a nice mess of fish."
