These giant Mississippi state record catfish weigh over 100 pounds, but how old are they?
They are truly giant fish; two Mississippi state record blue catfish weighing over 100 pounds caught this year.
And how quickly these fish can reach weights like that may come as a surprise to you.
On April 7, Eugene Cronley of Brandon was fishing in the Mississippi River near Natchez. Within minutes of setting up, he'd hooked the biggest blue catfish of his life.
After a 30-minute battle, he landed a fish that was 56.6 inches long with a girth of 41 inches. It weighed 131 pounds and set a new state record for blue catfish on conventional tackle.
Four months later, it seemed as if lightning struck twice. On July 31, Christopher Halley of Brookhaven was also fishing the Mississippi River near Natchez. He set out trotlines late in the day. When he checked his lines the next morning, he pulled up a blue catfish like none he'd ever encountered.
The fish weighed 104 pounds and set a new state record in the Trophy Division, which is a category for fish caught by means other than conventional tackle or a fly rod.
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How long do catfish live?
Halley said there was speculation on social media that the fish were 100 years old or more, but for some, that may seem like a stretch. After all, if the fish was 100 years old, it would have hatched when Warren G. Harding was president and fishermen were driving Ford Model Ts.
So, how old are these giants? Well, the answer may surprise you. The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks aged the fish and Cronley's was 20 years old and Halley's was in the neighborhood of 14 years old.
"They called me last week and told me how old he was," Cronley said. "It surprised me.
"I thought he may be a little older. I figured around at least 30, but I don't know anything about fish ages. He gained a lot of weight in 20 years. He was eating pretty good."
Halley said he wasn't surprised about the age of his fish, but also thought it was older.
"I thought maybe 30 years, but that was a guess," Halley said. "I thought 30 years was about the max. That was just a guess based on what other catfishers have said."
Jerry Brown, MDWFP director of Fisheries, said most catfish that are aged don't come close to that.
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Age of fish determined by otoliths
"It's common to see blue cats that are nine or 10 years old," Brown said. "Some have been documented up to 25 years old. That's the oldest I've heard of is 25 years."
Brown said ages of flathead catfish, another popular species among anglers, are similar. He said among those that have been aged, the average is around 12 years to 14 years with the oldest example he's aware of being 24 years.
How the ages of the fish were determined is much like counting rings in a tree trunk. Brown said there is an ear bone called an otolith and it grows in layers. Brown said otoliths are placed under a microscope and the layers are counted to determine the age of a fish.
How these fish reach such enormous sizes in those amounts of time is tied to food resources.
"Obviously, in the Mississippi River they have plenty to eat, so they can get to that size," Brown said.
Contact Brian Broom at bbroom@gannett.com or 601-961-7225.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Officials determine ages of giant catfish weighing over 100 pounds
