world record catfish

[gary]

http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625/fisherman-makes-world-record-catch-20984569

[fishpharmer]

That's a whopper.  Looks like a Mississippi fish to me, I think he swam up to MO for the summer to cool off.  ;) :D :D

[Magicman]

I just figured that it was one of your "babies" fishpharmer.   ;)

[fishpharmer]

Not likely, that thing is probably older than me.  I hope they age it.

[whiskers]

ok I'll bite, how do you age a catfish and how old do they get?

[fishpharmer]

I have heard of fish in the 50-60 year range.  I don't know if anyone really knows how long they live.

Most fish produce annual rings in the ear bone (otolith) the catfish with hard spines also produce rings (maybe some other bones too).  It takes specialized equipment to slice the bone thin enough to actually make out the annual rings with a microscope.  I have never done it myself.  Hope that helps.

[gary]

How old do you think that fish is? I know you can't be exact but your best guess would be more knowledgeable than anyone else that I know. 

[fishpharmer]

Gary, I know of a seventy two pound blue catfish that was determined to be 25 years old.  So it seems logical to think that a 130 lb blue catfish would be nearly twice as old.
But, I would think growth rate slows with age.  That puts the new record fish in the 50 to 60 year old range.
 
Size and age don't always correspond with fish like you normally think about it in mammals.  If fish have an abundance of food with good water quality conditions they will grow suprisingly fast.  There is much I don't know about aging of fish.   I have seen channel catfish with adequate feed attain one pound in a year and its sibling in another pond only grow to a quarter of a pound.

Now with the abundance of Asian carp in the MS river, that new record blue catfish may have been eating all it possibly could everyday and grew much faster than I would think possible.  Therefore the fish may be younger, possibly 40 to 50 years old.

[Banjo picker]

I guess I'm getting soft ...but I was thinking it would be nice to put that ole boy or gal back in the water....maybe tag it an see where it shows up next....  I am sure James could direct you to a plate of fish if you need one...he did me. :D  Tim

[gary]

Thanks fishpharmer Now I know more than I did. I suppose that with the warmer weather for longer periods that fish would grow faster there than up here where we cold weather for 4 months of the year.