Ronson Smothers with 60 Pound Blue Catfish

60 Pound Monster Blue Catfish
Caught on 20 Pound Berkley Big Game Line

By Steve Carson
September 2006

   The largest catfish of the year so far in California was landed by none other than legendary big catfish expert Ronson "Catman" Smothers of Los Angeles in a local SoCal lake. "I was fishing near the dam at 8:30 AM on Friday morning", related Smothers. "It hit a large chunk of original flavor Catmando Mackerel on an 8/0 octopus hook, and fought him for 15 minutes on 20-pound test Berkley Big Game monofilament line."

   "After the second hookset, I knew it was a big fish. My estimate kept going up from 20 pounds, to 30 pounds, to 40 pounds, although I could tell it wasn't a 100-pounder. It came up like a surfacing sub. I finally got to fill-up the huge salmon net I carry that everyone makes fun of."

   Smothers added: "He took off when we released him near the docks after weighing. I went back out and caught 4 more fish in the 9-pound range on Original Catmando Mackerel, just missing a 100-pound 5-fish limit!"

   Smothers is also the former California state record holder for blue catfish, with a mammoth 89.6 pounder caught back in 1999, also on Berkley line.