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Virgil Dale Agee

Holder of 2 World Records and many other prestigious awards, Virgil Agee is the Catfish Master. Recognized for his superior skills for catching giant blue catfish and flathead catfish, Virgil Rules the lower Osage River in central Missouri. Virgil is from Wardsville, Missouri. He may be the only man alive who has caught more than one catfish topping 100 pounds. He's caught not two, not three, but four blue cats that broke the century mark. All came from the Osage River.

"A Master Catman Talks"
By: Keith Sutton

In October 1994, Virgil Dale Agee landed a blue that definitely was a cut above the 30-to-50 pounders he frequently catches. He doesn't know how long it took to land the behemoth, but once he'd wrestled the huge cat into his boat, he wrestled with the question of whether to have it weighed or to keep fishing. He decided to keep fishing.

When the monster blue was placed on certified scales eight hours later, it weighed 101 lbs., 7 oz. A fisheries biologist in Springfield estimated its original weight at 114 pounds, two pounds heavier than the current world record.

In December 1994, Virgil caught his second giant blue. That one weighed 121 pounds, but was never recognized as a record because the scale's certification had expired. When Virgil caught another leviathan in 1995, he didn't weigh it. But it's length was well over five feet, and Virgil has no doubt it was over 100 lbs., maybe big enough to qualify for a world record.

The 1996 season was a lean one for Virgil, with no record-class catches. But he made up for it in 1997 with two more amazing fish. In February, he caught an Osage blue weighing 100 lbs. 8 oz. Then in March, he took a 90-pounder at the mouth of the Missouri River.

I fished with Virgil on the Osage in May 1998. The catfish weren't biting, so we had plenty of time to chew the fat. I picked his brain about the ways and means of catching trophy cats. Here's what Virgil says about targeting record class- blues.

VIRGINIA "GINNY" AGEE
Information posted at a later date.

Thanks

Ginny