What’s a catfish worth? The one Dale Flener just caught earned him $50,000.
For 28 years, the Morgantown Butler County Chamber of Commerce has sponsored the Green River Catfish Festival over the Independence Day weekend. After all, the western Kentucky town calls itself the Catfish Capital of the World.
The festival includes an antique tractor show, a livestock show, carnival rides and a “star search” contest. But the main event is a fishing tournament where people try to catch one of the tagged-and-numbered catfish sponsored by local businesses and released into the Green River before the festival.
People who catch one of 55 tagged fish during the three-day tournament earn prizes of between $100 and $1,000. Nineteen of those were caught this year; all were worth $100, except for one that paid $250.
There also is one grand prize fish. The last time anyone caught it, back in 1992, it was worth $10,000. In more recent years, it has been worth $50,000. But nobody caught it. Until last Thursday evening.
That’s when Flener, who has fished in the contest for all of its 28 years but never caught a tagged fish, hooked into the biggest payday of his life.
“I was born and raised here, and I’ve been fishing Green River all my life,” said Flener, 67, who lives in the Butler County community of Aberdeen and retired after 37 years of working at the Holley Carburetor plant in nearby Bowling Green.
The $50,000 prize money came from an insurance policy that local businesses and the chamber paid $5,000 for, said Amanda Hatcher, the chamber’s executive director.
When reached on his cell phone Monday morning, Flener was at the insurance agent’s office filling out papers to collect his winnings. He still seemed a little stunned, as he was Saturday evening when the nearly 500 competing fishermen gathered at Charles Black City Park to find out which tagged fish had earned which prizes.
What does Flener plan to do with his winnings? He hasn’t figured that out yet.
“My wife has a whole lot to say about that,” Flener said. One thing he’s thinking about: A trip to Disney World with his granddaughters, who are 5, 9 and 21.
And what will he do with the pound-and-a-half catfish that brought him Butler County fame and fortune? “I’m going to mount it if I can,” he said.
Photo: Dale Flener, in red-striped shirt, reacts to the announcement of his $50,000 win. Listen to the scene by clicking the arrow below. Photo and audio provided by Morgantown Butler County Chamber of Commerce. Thanks to Butler County native Sherri Phelps for the tip.
July 7, 2008 at 3:18 pm |
Cool story. I’d like to see a follow-up in a few months with the mounted fish.