# Abnormally huge catfish spotted at dam



## smpmaan

Is it just me or has any one else heard the story of crazy big cat fish? Here's the story, supposedly divers went down to do a routine check of integrity of the dam and they returned  to the surface so terrified they vowed never to go back down. Seems as though these divers encountered CATFISH THE SIZE OF VOLKSWAGONS. I have heard this same exact story all across the the US.
If anyone else has heard  this too I'd like to know. Also just how much would a cat the size of a vw bug weigh.   
 Guess I've just been fishing in all the wrong spots!!


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## sinclair1

I have heard the same thing for 30 years about Allatoona and Lanier. I am sure there are some huge fish down there but they all seem to be 600lbs when the story is told. It is funny that now that divers have cameras we have no new stories


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## Mako22

Yep I've heard it about Talquin dam down near Tallahassee Florida.


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## Sargent

I caught one.  I threw it back because I didn't want to hassle with it.

Zebco 33 with stinkbait.


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## Old Dead River

urban legend, like the other guy said surely some big fish down there just not the size of volkswagens


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## fulldraw74

Sargent said:


> I caught one.  I threw it back because I didn't want to hassle with it.
> 
> Zebco 33 with stinkbait.



I ran over one crossing the road in Oconee County......


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## riverrat

I heard that story on jackson about 25 years ago, so i took my trusty BB BOOM to where they saw them and caught one that went 459 lbs. but i forgot my camera, so i threw him back!!!!!!            HAHAHAHAHAHAHA


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## Mr.MainFrame10

Yeah, that story is old as the hills. I've been hearing that all my life. It not happening, people just love to spread stories about things that make you go UM!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Twenty five ought six

I first heard this 40 years ago when I was a teenager about Lanier.


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## fredw

If there's a dam there's this story.....don't much matter what dam you're referring to.


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## GAdawgMd

Heard the samething down here under the Altamha River bridge in Baxley. Been hearin' since I was a lil' boy.


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## shakey gizzard

Those true giants always end up at the dam!


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## firefighterfree

I grew up on the Arkansas River in Arkansas on the lower end of the river at the infamous Lock and Dam #2
that story was told there aleast 21 years ago. The same story.


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## boohoo222

that story actually started at silver springs florida. when looking through the glass bottom boats , catfish app. 40- 60 feet down , their size actually was magnified and they looked the size of small cars


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## Mangler

Heard the same thing about Clark's Hill dam about 20 years ago.


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## Woodscrew

I found a Picture so it must be true.


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## pbradley

Me and Bigfoot was fishing the dam at Jackson a couple years ago.  I caught one using a black panther as bait.


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## Money man

I had a buddy who was an international student staying with us when I was back in school. We took him down to Jackson by the dam and was doing some fishing. He said he wanted to swim and we told him it wasn't safe. 

This pic is the last we ever saw of him. I sent it to Nat Geo so they could warn others.


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## K80

Boy let me tell ya them biggins some sho nuff good eatin.  I was swimin back behind Hartwell dam one day and the next thing I knew someone had done went turned the dagblasted lights off.  It wasn't to long before I saw this big bright light and here came my couzin crashing down on top of me.  I'z about ready to knock his lights out but cents he looked like he dun went and saw a ghost I let him talk first and couldn't belive what he went on to say. I was like  and he was like  and said man I aint liein and he went on to say he was looking my way when all of a sudden something twice the size Billy Bob's momma, and I was like  and  cuz I's to young to die, came up out nowhere and swallowed me whole and bfore he could get to the bank it got him to.  It didn't take long for us to decide that if that sucka can eat us alive the we can eat him alive to and the next thing we know we were swimin out that sucks belly about 60' deep.  I sho wish it woulda been shallow what so we coulda pulled that sucka out of the water and taken our pics with him cause everybody's been lafin at the two of us cents the first time we told our story!


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## sinclair1

I will find him for you Money Man


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## Money man

sinclair1 said:


> I will find him for you Money Man





He answered to Buwano but sometimes we called him Budiman.


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## Sargent

On the other end of the spectrum, did anyone see the show on the Discovery channel about the tiny catfish that swam up some poor guy's urine stream and a surgeon had to remove it?

I think I'd rather be eaten alive by one of those VWs.


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## gator808

One of the lakes we live by in South Carolina (Lake Jocasse) you here stories like this all the time.  They have people from all over the U.S. train to dive on this lake so divers are frequently out there. Now I will say this lake is 320ft. deep by the dam.  I am pretty sure there is not a catfish the size of a volkswagon but I bet there are some record size catfish down there.


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## jmfauver

I heard the story about the Susquehanna Dam on the MD/PA line when I was a kid


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## Buzzerbaits

Money man said:


> He answered to Buwano but sometimes we called him Budiman.



Sinclair.    Happen to see at 1310 reel down there that i lost?


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## Sultan of Slime

They are out there! Us catmen are trying our best to catch an urban legend!


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## BigBass114

My Great-Grandpa has been telling me this story about Lanier for as long as I can remember


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## butter bass

This is one funny post!!


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## GA DAWG

I heard a Tysons truck turned over one time at Lanier..Spilling grown chickens into the lake..Heard the catfish were eating them whole!!!


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## raggedy ann

Sargent said:


> I caught one.  I threw it back because I didn't want to hassle with it.
> 
> Zebco 33 with stinkbait.



10 pound test line, too, I bet!


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## healthandprosper

I've heard the story all my life too about Lanier. The one I've heard the most was about the chicken truck that wrecked and went in there, and the cats eating the chickens.


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## danny-s

pbradley said:


> Me and Bigfoot was fishing the dam at Jackson a couple years ago.  I caught one using a black panther as bait.


hahahahahaha so i guess bigfoot took you to our honey hole as well


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## Jighead

healthandprosper said:


> I've heard the story all my life too about Lanier. The one I've heard the most was about the chicken truck that wrecked and went in there, and the cats eating the chickens.



I have heard this story many times from my uncles, my oldest uncle said he was at the scene where the chicken truck went off Thompson Bridge.He claimed the divers that were trying to retrieve the driver's  body did not want to go back down after seeing catfish swallow chickens whole.Until the introduction of flatheads in Lanier recently, the biggest catfish I knew of where channel cats. Man, those were some record breaking channel cats!


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## M00SE

I caught one some yrs ago in TN. It was indeed the size of a VW. I had to set the drap on low so the fight went on for hours. Luckily the line didnt break and when I got er on the banks, I let er go. I'ma Jeep guy...


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## BCAPES

Georgia Sportsman Article when I was a kid featured a guy fishing at night on Clarks Hill for big ones.  He had a 65 lber on the cover that he had caught there.  

The story about divers saying there were catfish bigger than they were was in that article too.


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## Tim L

boohoo222 said:


> that story actually started at silver springs florida. when looking through the glass bottom boats , catfish app. 40- 60 feet down , their size actually was magnified and they looked the size of small cars



That actually makes sense..


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## whateverjones

Somebody call Mythbusters,they will clear the whole thing one way or the other.


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## madpegtod

I work inside one of the dams here in Georgia. Those stories are absolutely, positively, without a doubt.... FALSE. Occasionally we have to install bulkheads and unwater the generators in order to inspect the turbines and wicket gates.  We have to go in and get the fish out so that they don't start stinking up the place when they die. The biggest catfish I have seen are about 60 lbs.That being said, I have picked up some nice largemouths with my hands that are bigger than most of the ones that I have seen people mount.


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## NCHillbilly

I've heard that story about almost every lake in NC, too-it's not just a GA thang.


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## brantd

Yep,  i got one off the west point dam , threw it over the dam though to the other side..figured something that ugly needed to be on the alabama side...


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## GarAngler71

Call that show Monster Quest!Im 38 and heard that story my whole life.


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## GarAngler71

madpegtod said:


> I work inside one of the dams here in Georgia. Those stories are absolutely, positively, without a doubt.... FALSE. Occasionally we have to install bulkheads and unwater the generators in order to inspect the turbines and wicket gates.  We have to go in and get the fish out so that they don't start stinking up the place when they die. The biggest catfish I have seen are about 60 lbs.That being said, I have picked up some nice largemouths with my hands that are bigger than most of the ones that I have seen people mount.



That would be a cool job!Maybe not dealing with the dead fish tho!


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## Oldstick

I know some folks that were parked in a car way out in the woods, they heard a strange noise, tried to slam the car in gear but something was holding it, finally got free, and later found claw scratches all the way down the side.


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## Money man

Oldstick said:


> I know some folks that were parked in a car way out in the woods, they heard a strange noise, tried to slam the car in gear but something was holding it, finally got free, and later found claw scratches all the way down the side.



You think that is unbelievable.....I know a guy who caught a very large bass and posted it on the GON forum and no questioned him or called Bullsnot on it!


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## big_bird

Sargent said:


> On the other end of the spectrum, did anyone see the show on the Discovery channel about the tiny catfish that swam up some poor guy's urine stream and a surgeon had to remove it?
> 
> I think I'd rather be eaten alive by one of those VWs.


 i saw that!!   dont Edited to Remove Profanity ----Edited to Remove Profanity ----Edited to Remove Profanity ----Edited to Remove Profanity ---- in the water in a forigen country!!!


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## jalawson

Money man said:


> You think that is unbelievable.....I know a guy who caught a very large bass and posted it on the GON forum and no questioned him or called Bullsnot on it!



Now that is unbelievable!  By the way, I found a fascinating article on weighing large bass earlier in the week.  I meant to post it up.  It basically breaks down weighing bass into two different formulas.  After reading the article and looking at the charts, I think there is very little one can do to accurately estimate the weight of a bass from photos.

Or catfish that are as big as Volkswagens for that matter (didn't mean to hijack the thread).


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