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Lake Township's Keith Baker reels in 57-pounder at Portage Lakes
By Marla Ridenour
Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Saturday, May 03, 2008
When Keith Baker held up the 57-pound flathead catfish he caught April 26 at Portage Lakes, his three dinosaur-obsessed children thought it was some prehistoric beast.
To fellow fishermen, it might as well have been the Creature From the Black Lagoon. When Baker pulled it out of the oxygenating tub to release it alive and well, he said it made grown men squirm.
''They dropped their bags and ran off like little girls,'' Baker said. ''It looked like a monster coming out of that dark murky water.''
The 36-year-old Lake Township resident and owner of Hartville Heating had no idea what he had when he hooked the record-setting catfish. He still can't believe he got it to shore.
Landing it on 10-pound test line that he said ''should have broken 100 times,'' Baker fought the fish for more than an hour. Finally, its tail stood straight up out of the water like a flagpole, and Baker, 6-foot-2 and 300 pounds, grabbed it and threw the fish over his shoulder. As he fell backward, the catfish flopped in the boat.
''It's sheer luck I got it in the boat,'' Baker said.
Especially since he said the 57-pound, 12.4-ounce beast had a 341/2-inch waist, er, girth, and stood more than 4 feet tall (493/4 inches long). Baker might have had an easier time hauling a washing machine out of the East Reservoir than the angry predator.
Competing alone in a partner bass-fishing tournament to benefit youth programs because his buddy was tired from the night before, Baker already had reeled in 7 or 8 pounds of bass when the giant cat took the bait. That's when the biggest fish story of Baker's life began.
''I said some prayers, 'Let it be a bass,' '' Baker said. ''I thought it was a muskie or gar or a huge carp.
''Nine pounds would have put me in the money in the tournament, but it was my lucky day, anyway. I never thought I'd be able to catch a fish like this, let alone be able to share it.''
If it's certified by the International Game Fishing Association, Baker's catch will shatter that organization's records for a flathead catfish in Ohio.
Until Saturday, Baker's biggest catches were two 7-pound, 2-ounce bass, one in Portage Lakes last year, the other in Chautauqua, N.Y. The bass aficionado still is marveling at the catfish's appearance.
''It wasn't slimy,'' he said. ''It was just like a 16- or 19-year-old kid. Nothing but muscle, no parasites. You'd think it would be old and tattered and beat. There were no marks on it. I looked in its mouth and there was not a mark on him anywhere.
''It was an absolutely beautiful fish specimen.''
Baker said he was using Seaguar fluorocarbon line — expensive, but invisible under water — and an artificial Rapala-type lure.
''Usually when you catch something like this, you put a bunch of bluegills or shad on the line and lay it across the lake,'' Baker said. ''Or you use heavy tackle or live bait or chicken.''
Matt Wolfe, fisheries biologist for District 3 of the Ohio Division of Wildlife, used to think there were no flathead catfish in Portage Lakes. The picture of this one convinced him otherwise.
''This type catfish does eat live fish, and it's one of the biggest predators I've seen in all our lakes,'' Wolfe said.
Asked how old a fish of that size might be, Wolfe said: ''It could be 15, 20 years old, or it could be even older. Older fish usually get nicked up. This is a beautiful fish. Its fins are still pristine; I can see all eight whiskers.''
After he got the fish in his 19-foot bass boat, which has a capacity of 2,000 pounds, Baker tried to take a picture, but his cell-phone camera was broken. On the half-hour ride back, he called his wife, Jessica, and the Division of Wildlife so they could send someone to witness the catch. He also kept dousing the fish with buckets of water.
''Catching a fish that big by himself, and he's not exactly a small guy, is not easy,'' Wolfe said. ''And he had to take extreme measures to get it back to the ramp alive.''
Baker said he spends 100 days a year on the water and that fishing is the only way he can relax. But this experience has not satisfied his pursuit of big bass.
''I never thought I would be happy catching a catfish; I never fish for them,'' he said. ''But I got the biggest fish out of the lake and probably will forever. They say it will never be caught again.''
Wolfe isn't so sure.
''Fish learn after so long, but it might be caught again,'' Wolfe said. ''Throw a line in front of its face and if it's hungry. . . . But he was in the right place at the right time with the right bait.''
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her Browns blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/browns/.
When Keith Baker held up the 57-pound flathead catfish he caught April 26 at Portage Lakes, his three dinosaur-obsessed children thought it was some prehistoric beast.
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