# Largest Freshwater Fish



## mikenas102 (Feb 8, 2006)

Search for the Largest Freshwater Fish

Pretty cool article. An 1100lb freshwater ray? That would be cool to see.


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## maknwar (Feb 28, 2008)

I sure hope they are catching and releasing.


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## mikenas102 (Feb 8, 2006)

I'm sure that after reading that article some freak will build a huge tank and want to keep one of those rays.


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## KraKen (Jul 17, 2008)

maknwar said:


> I sure hope they are catching and releasing.


They said in the articall that they want to tag them so I'm sure they're releasing them.


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## Afyounie (Aug 10, 2007)

I think I saw this on the discovery or nat geo channel once. They were going through the river catching these freshwater rays which are part of the local peoples food supply, and as such were dwindling or something. The rays though were huge and the water was really murky. Definitely wouldn't jump in.


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## Nelumbo74 (May 2, 2008)

It was Nat Geo, and unfortunately they can't find the largest ones anymore.


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## aquaphish (Jan 22, 2005)

But how about the sturgon. It is a really large freshwater fish also. The picture is not of the largest on caught.

http://www.hellscanyontworivertours.com/images/Photo Gallery/Fishing Gallery/pages/Sturgon.htm


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## Logan's Daddy (May 3, 2008)

aquaphish said:


> But how about the sturgon. It is a really large freshwater fish also. The picture is not of the largest on caught.
> 
> http://www.hellscanyontworivertours.com/images/Photo Gallery/Fishing Gallery/pages/Sturgon.htm


Here's a link to a post I made a while about sturgeon on display in a huge outdoor pond with a viewing window in their native habitat in the columbia river gorge. 
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/water-bucket/52665-really-big-fw-fish.html

They were truly huge.










The photo really doesn't do it justice, that thing was 12 feet long!


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## Nelumbo74 (May 2, 2008)

Unfortunately Logans Daddy, even the monster sturgeons can no longer be found. The one you are looking at is a baby compared to what is on record for that particular species. There are unofficial records of this ray, but as they say, it "could" be the largest fish on record. It isn't confirmed as the largest. The current record for largest freshwater fish is the Mekong Catfish. Here's an interesting article that explains the reason the sturgeon doesn't take first place!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekong_giant_catfish


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## Logan's Daddy (May 3, 2008)

Oh come on, So he likes to swim in salt water every now and then.

IMO If I were taking a dip in the river and an 800lb fish brushed by I wouldn't be the one to tell him he didn't count because he swam in the ocean too sometimes....

Just kidding of course, but it really was cool to see such a large specimen so close up though!


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## Nelumbo74 (May 2, 2008)

I know what you mean! The TN Aquarium has a great sturgeon breeding program, and they have some huge specimens on display. They just released several small fish into the Cumberland River here in middle TN at the end of spring. They've been very successful. They also have a sturgeon petting tank in the Aqaurium, which is kinda cool. If you ever have a chance to pass through TN, you should check it out.


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## jazzlvr123 (Apr 29, 2007)

Nelumbo74 said:


> Unfortunately Logans Daddy, even the monster sturgeons can no longer be found. The one you are looking at is a baby compared to what is on record for that particular species. There are unofficial records of this ray, but as they say, it "could" be the largest fish on record. It isn't confirmed as the largest. The current record for largest freshwater fish is the Mekong Catfish. Here's an interesting article that explains the reason the sturgeon doesn't take first place!
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekong_giant_catfish



I think this freshwater fish beats the catfish ironically found in the same river


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## Nelumbo74 (May 2, 2008)

That's the fish, which is the original topic of the thread.  Not sure it's the biggest though, because the record is based on weight. The article doesn't say how much that ray weighed, but it does mention the current title holding catfish, which weighed 646 lbs.


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