RIVER MONSTER: Evansville man catches 60-pound catfish
<span>As any fisherman knows, tall tales are a part of the sport - unless you can back it up.</span>
<span>Sam Grillo, who lives on the outskirts of Evansville and fishes the Kaskaskia River regularly, became the talk of social media recently when a photo was posted of him and a 60-pound blue catfish that he caught on the river on Friday night.</span>
<span>"I've been trying now for six years," he told the Herald Tribune on Monday. "I've heard a lot of stories down there and wanted to include a picture to show that it isn't just a story."</span>
<span>Grillo said he caught the cat using a 6-inch live bluegill. He cut the top fin off of the bluegill and attached a hook on the back of its tail.</span>
<span>"I don't use worms or anything like that," Grillo said.</span>
<span>Grillo said he was only fishing for about a half hour when he noticed his pole was bent nearly to the water line.</span>
<span>"It took me about 10 minutes to reel him in," Grillo said. "I had to get in the water about knee-high to get him because he was so big."</span>
<span>During the fight, Grillo said the catfish jumped twice before he was finally able to wrestle him into the shallower water.</span>
<span>"I didn't notice what he was because it was so dark and I didn't notice what I had until I got him on the bank," Grillo said.</span>
<span>Grillo said he took the fish home and weighed himself twice, subtracting the fish's weight from his own. He said he took the photo indoors because of better lighting.</span>
<span>"There's bigger ones in (the Kaskaskia River), you just have to fish for them," Grillo said. "I caught a flathead catfish in the same spot that was 37 pounds."</span>
<span>According to landbigfish.com, the state record for blue catfish is 124 pounds, 4 ounces. That fish was caught on the Mississippi River on May 21, 2005 by Tim Pruitt.</span>
<span>"I'm trying to go for the flathead record, which is 78 pounds," Grillo said. "If you try to go for flatheads, they don't go for live bait."</span>
<span>Landbigfish.com lists the flathead record as having been caught by Jody Harris on Carlyle Lake on August 11, 1995.</span>
<span>"I was back down there on (the Kaskaskia River) on Sunday and I try to go once or twice a week," Grillo said.</span>
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