Department of Delinquency–“Catmando”: Meet Californian Ronson Chuka Smothers. He lives to fish. Not just any fish. Catfish. Monster catfish. In 1999 he caught an 89.63-pound blue catfish at Irvine Lake, and snagged the California catfish record. But five months later a lucky, bass-fishing, sumbitch, grabbed a 101-pounder, relegating Catmando to runner-up. That didn’t sit well. So Smothers has spent 100 days a year for the past five years trying to reclaim his glory, often spending all day or all night in his boat. Sitting. Waiting. Hoping. The LA Times caught up to Smothers this week, and has a hilarious profile of this catfish crazy Ahab. Check it out:
The voice answering the phone at Irvine Lake insisted on respect for Southern California’s king of catfish.
“I seek the one they call Catmando,” I said.
“You mean the exalted Catmando,” she corrected. Moments later, his majesty, Ronson Chuka Smothers, was on the line…
Most anglers are liars and wannabes, but Catmando “I like catfish, I’m a man and fishing is what I do” is anointed…
“It’s the mystery of the deep,” Smothers said. “You don’t know the biggest catfish. Every time that line moves, you don’t know how big it is. Knowing any second you could be hooked up to something half the size of you, that’s what keeps you going. I’m looking for one fish, for the one bite.”
Who knows if Catmando will ever get that ONE fish, or whether, subconsciously, he really wants to. But at least he got a hell of a nickname out of it all…
Crazy Catmando: “I’m looking for this Dude’s big, big brother…”
(Photo: LA Times)
The Earthist Chronicles 