# U.S. Cats Championship Big Fish winner



## Doctor (Apr 5, 2004)

Here is your 2004 US Cats big fish winner at Henderson Kentucky,

85 Pounds 2 ozs. Caught on a two inch Shad in 40 foot of water on 20# test line. 









This fish was huge, many people had never seen a fish this big, even a lot of the Pro's stood in awe at the size of this fish, the crowd went crazy when this young man and his father pulled this out of there boat, it was a gorgeous fish, this fish had been out of the water a long time with all the pictures being taken.

Very proud of my son Larry and Donnie Shoopman as they worked well over an hour in the water reviving this fish so it would keep on swimming, when first released it floated belly up, Donnie went into the water and opened the fishes mouth with his hand too get water to flow across his gills but the fish wasn't responding, so Larry put Donnies boat in the water and they D-ringed the fish and towed him out to the swifter current, after about 45 min. he started swimming on his own and with good force, Donnie reached in and undid the D-ring when the Blue clamped down on his hand and broke his middle finger, but Donnie said it was worth it to watch this fish swim away to be caught another day......way to go guys proud of you......Doc and Lynn

Here's something else on day one there was Larrys, 34# Blue, a 41# Blue, a 43#Blue, a 58# Flathead, a 61.2# Blue and a 63.2# Blue, with the big fish day one 63.2#, day two was a 43# Blue and the 85.2# Blue, day one it was pouring down the rain most of the day, day 2 it was bright and sunny.


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## lark101_1999 (Apr 12, 2004)

very nice fish thanks for posting doc


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## fish 4 bass (Apr 10, 2004)

That is a hog! I've never seen one close to that size either.
Thanks for the pic's Doc and a Good Job to Larry and Donnie!


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## catking (Apr 5, 2004)

Thanks Doc for the thread. That is one fine fish !!! Glad they got the big girl revived......... CATKING


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## mrfishohio (Apr 5, 2004)

It looks like it might go...oh...say about 87.6 pounds ??  
Dave called me on his ride home & told me how they got the fish back in and worked on giving it a chance to survive. Didn't hear about the broke finger, dang, I know that hurt. Good show, hope to see more pictures soon.


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## TIGHTLINER (Apr 7, 2004)

Awesome Picture! Good Post! Nice to hear from you Doctor! Congrads to the man that revived that beast.......TightLines!


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## H2O Mellon (Apr 5, 2004)

Great post. Great story, the best part was the fact that it was & how it was released. I just hope it doesnt end up in a paylake.


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## katfish (Apr 7, 2004)

Great pic and post Doc.
Just a gentle reminder that big fish often hurt the ones that love them


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## rockbass (Apr 16, 2004)

That is awesome!.......the fish and the story to the release! Thanks Doc!


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## Doctor (Apr 5, 2004)

Here's Larry's 34# Bluecat caught on day one of the tournament, Lynn and myself we did not get to fish, we had left on Thursday at midnight went straight to Lake Barkley and caught 60 skipjacks for the tournament, arrived in henderson around 11 on Friday, checked in at the motel then headed for the river, launched went downriver about 10 miles and I noticed a different sound pitch in the motor, looked back and wasn't peeing any water out of the engine but the pressure was staying up, so just turned around and ran half throttle all the way back to the dock, when Larry and Donnie showed up, told them what was going on, Donnie pulled the plug on the water port and it was clogged up, put us back in business, good pressure and a good stream so went back down river about 20 miles marking spots, found a good honey hole for day one and ran back to the ramp, put the trailer in the water and turned the boat around when I felt two thumps from the wheel and no steering, had lost the Hydrualic pump that steers the boat, took me a while to get the boat on the trailer while doing circles, Larry and Donnie and I worked on it late, but just couldn't fix it, talked to the tournament official and asked if I could start late, a local marine shop opened up at 7am, he said yes, but the mechanic confirmed that the pump wasn't pushing any oil, so Lynn and I were forced out of the tournament, knowbody knows the pain we went through after working so hard all year to get to this tournament and being forced to sit on the bank, it was not fun, but we decided to stay and support Larry and Donnie, by the way they caught all there fish on our Skips..... 

Maybe next year our luck will change........Doc and Lynn


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## crappiebub (Apr 5, 2004)

Thanks for the post and pictures. Sorry to hear about your troubles though. Sure had to be a heart breaker!
Bob


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## sliprig (Apr 6, 2004)

Seems You and Lynn have had more than your fair share this year. Looks like Larry steppin up and defending the family name, good deal! Thanks for sharing the pictures and story and keep'm coming.

Slip


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## crappielooker (Apr 5, 2004)

you guys will get them next year doc and lynn..
what an ugly lookin' fish..  and what a cow she is..


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## firecat (Apr 7, 2004)

Hey that fish is the biggest one I have ever caught so you can Imagine my and Donnie's excitement after being on our first spot and boating that fish 45 min into the tourney. He was burroughed down in the rocks though I definitley had a good fight. That fish was in great shape when he was released. He gave me a quick tail swish and a quick bath when I released him. All the blood was from where this fish had been down in the rocks. He looked like he had been in full spawn. Well that was unbelievable. Donnie did one hell of a job reviving that fish. Hey jim I could sure use an avatar on that fish. 

Thanks,

Larry


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## Baitkiller (Sep 1, 2004)

Team Lange does it again!

Way to go guys and thanks for the posts.


<><Baitkiller><>


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## mrfishohio (Apr 5, 2004)

> Hey jim I could sure use an avatar on that fish.


Here you go.


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## ARGEE (Apr 5, 2004)

is this the ohio river they were fishing?great job on reviveing that fish.


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## flathunter (Apr 5, 2004)

Great Fish! I am sure you will do much better next year Doc.


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## lark101_1999 (Apr 12, 2004)

http://www.uscats.org/index.html more pics weights and results


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## truck (Apr 12, 2004)

Nice pics & some great fish  Congrats Larry on your pb!Just went back and read it was Henderson KY,there are no results on there website?I need to find more skips,am getting low  daryl


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## JUSTCRAZY (Apr 6, 2004)

Nice picutures Doc. 

Larry that is a great fish, I can only imagine the fight that it took to get that to the surface. SO is it true that the big blues fight twice as hard as big flatheads?


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## Fishinfreak (Oct 12, 2004)

Doc how many boats? Did any of you`s get in the money? 55 thousand is some nice change.


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## Doctor (Apr 5, 2004)

Fishin Freak,

49 Boats, Lynn and I would have been 50, nobody in the money, Larry and Donnie were 18th overall..........Doc


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## Fishinfreak (Oct 12, 2004)

Still a good job guys.I know the feeling.My two sons and i fished in cabelas kingkat classic in iowa and finished 30th out of 157.Top 23 places payed.We where 5.5lbs from a check.Hope to meet you`s on the tournament trails sometime.Team Bundy.


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