Page From the Past

Page From the Past: Ozark Whoppers Long before social media carried tales of record-breaking catfish, one man was writing down the tall ones passed from front porches to potluck suppers...

Page From the Past: Iago and the Catfish From “These Were Actors”   In the golden age of traveling stage shows, few families balanced the art of performance and the...

Page From the Past: Catfish Courtship and River Rivalry By Robert P. Tristram Coffin In this lighthearted poem from 1943, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Robert P. Tristram Coffin imagines a romantic...

Page from the Past: The Great Catfish Caper From “Men of the Underworld: The Professional Criminals Own Story” Edited by Charles Hamilton I’ve heard some tall tales in my time,...

    Page from the Past: The Bullfrog and the Bullheads From “Fishing in American Waters” by Genio C. Scott In the annals of curious catfishing tales, few rival the...

Page from the Past: Churning for Catfish From “Plantation Life Before Emancipation” by R.Q. Mallard In his 1892 memoir “Plantation Life Before Emancipation,” Robert Quarterman Mallard painted a vivid picture...

Page from the Past: Catfish Campfire Chronicles From Scribner’s Monthly, May 1878 In the May 1878 issue of Scribner’s Monthly, a magazine popular from 1870 through 1881, a lively tale...

Page from the Past: The Last of the Big Ones By T.P. Coffin and Henig Cohen   In their 1973 book “Folklore from the Working Folk of America,” T.P. Coffin...

Page From the Past: The Fisherman’s Patience By Izaak Walton The patience required of anglers has been celebrated—and lamented—in countless tales. One such story comes from The Complete Angler by...

Page From the Past: South America’s Piraiba By Theodore Roosevelt In his book Through the Brazilian Wilderness, published in 1914, former president Theodore Roosevelt described the massive piraiba catfish of...