...sorry big_pond.
The Kansas City Star
The world-record catfish that had captured the imagination of fishermen across the Midwest won't be coming to Kansas City after all.
The 124-pound blue catfish caught Saturday night by Tim Pruitt of Fosterberg, Ill., on the Mississippi River was supposed to have been put on display in the aquarium at the Cabela's store in Kansas City, Kan.
And it was on its way there Monday. But the fish died en route, leaving the area minus one big projected tourist attraction.
"We're baffled by this," said Fred Cronin, a fisheries biologist for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. "We took a lot of precautions to see that the fish was comfortable.
"But we're talking about a fish that was very old, very heavy. The stress of being transported like that could have been too much."
Cabela's now has the fish and plans to use it to have two replica mounts made - one that will be on display in the store, another that will be given to Illinois for a display in a museum.
The fish itself may also be loaned to the Illinois DNR for genetic tests and various studies on big catfish.
