Fish tale is one for the record books

By MIKE CORN
Hays Daily News

When it comes to this fish story, it’s not about the one that got away.

So, did you hear the one about the Sternberg Museum of Natural History assistant curator who came out of the Neosho River with a flathead catfish on his foot?

Oh wait, that was just “stink bait” Curtis Schmidt, who did — in fact — hobble out of the southeast Kansas river last week with a 30-pound flathead firmly attached to his foot.

And now, he’s serving as the butt of jokes galore, not to mention sheer amazement at what happened.

At first, cohort Travis Taggart thought Schmidt simply had a rock or log fall on his foot while in the Neosho River, near Neosho Falls.

“I thought he was kidding at first,” Taggart said.

As Schmidt started hopping ashore — with fish in tow — Taggart had a change of heart.

And that’s when he wanted to make sure the fish remained on Schmidt’s foot all the way to shore.

“I wanted to keep it on his foot,” Taggart said.

Both Taggart and Schmidt are herpetology curators at Sternberg.

Schmidt didn’t know what to think, but it did concern him a bit when the fish bit down.

Now, it’s a matter of amazement.

“Nobody’s ever heard of that before,” he said. “That fish must have been hungry. It was hilarious and scary at the same time.”

The scary part, for both Schmidt and Taggart stems from the fact that they were both in waders, making their way through debris at the bottom of the riverbed.

The water was about 33 degrees, so if Schmidt had lost his footing, it would have been dangerous.

“I’ve done that a lot of times and I’ve never had that happen,” Taggart said. “I’m going to wear a life jacket from now on.”

“It was ice cold,” Schmidt said of the water. “If it would have pulled me down, you can’t swim with waders.”

But that was after the fact.

At the moment, Schmidt couldn’t figure it out.

“I just started wondering what had hold of me,” he said. “It just didn’t hurt at all. I just felt is clamp around my foot.”

As for Taggart, Schmidt said he partner didn’t have much to say.

“He was laughing too hard.”

Once Schmidt hopped back on shore, it didn’t take long for the fish to loosen his grip.

Taggart said he positioned himself between Schmidt and the water, just in case the fish turned loose. He wanted Schmidt to return to shore — with the fish attached.

Schmidt said the tiny, sharp teeth allowed the fish to hold on tight, but did no damage to the waders he was wearing.

“They’re really small,” he said of the teeth, "but they’re sharp and there’s a lot of them.”

Schmidt said they released the fish back into the river.

“It got a little banged up, but probably nothing that hasn’t already healed up."

Schmidt, Taggart, Melissa Johann and Kendra Phelps were en route to Pittsburg for a meeting of the Kansas Wildlife Society Chapter.

It was along the way when they stopped at the Neosho to trap mudpuppies — aquatic salamanders, and visit several caves in southeast Kansas. There, they trapped bats in the caves and caught other mammals along the way.

“The frogs were out calling, which is good,” Schmidt said.

“It was nice,” Taggart said of the frogs, “after how cold it’s been.”

Now, people from all over the state are callling out, especially now that word of the ordeal is spreading.

And that’s where Schmidt is getting his nicknames, such as Stink Bait or fishbait.

“I also called him lucky,” Taggart said.

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