This is the story about the one that got away…intentionally.

Last weekend’s Cabela’s King Kat catfish tournament was won by a Missouri team with a disappointing, at least by Lake Tawakoni standards, 195 pounds. The winning weight was still the fourth-best ever in a King Kat tournament with the top two also coming from Tawakoni and the third off Alabama’s Lake Pickwick.

Tawakoni’s status as one of the, if not the, best trophy blue catfish lake is already solidified. That status was punctuated in February 2014 when a lake-record 87.5-pound blue was landed

It might have been underlined in December by Tyler school teacher Stephanie Horn, who landed a blue cat that was estimated at 89 pounds in the boat, but never made it to shore to be officially weighed. Prior to the King Kat tournament, guide Michael Littlejohn told part of the story about that day’s fishing in his boat. He said he explained to the fishermen that it was possibly a new lake record, but to get it to the scales to weigh and back in the water with a chance to survive would take a chunk out of their fishing day.

Horn’s father, Steve Freeman of Lewisville, told the rest of the story.

“On December 6 we went with Michael on Lake Tawakoni to fish for trophy blue cats.  My uncle Lynn Holliman, my daughter Stephanie Horn and her husband, Matt, who all live in Tyler, were along for this trip,” Freeman said.

Freeman, who has fished throughout the country, said the purpose of the trip was to get the 77-year-old Holliman the biggest fish he had ever caught.

“I invited my daughter and son in law to go along also, as they both enjoy fishing on occasion, but have never tried for trophy fish,” Freeman said.

Weather leading up to the trip had been unseasonably warm, but that morning a 15- to 20-mile-per-hour wind blew out of the north and the temps fell. It was a hard morning for fishermen, but perfect for catching big blues.

“We started out in very shallow water, less than 3-feet deep. Fish were there, but not biting. Michael does not play around. They are either biting or he leaves within 10 minutes or so,” Freeman recalled.

When the guide pulled up on a second spot, it was deeper water and the picture on the fish-finder looked more promising.

“When we arrived he found a hump and there were fish there. Big ones too. Within five minutes of throwing out bait, my daughter’s pole bent over and she started reeling it in. Uncle Lynn also got a bite and he got a trophy on at the same time,” Freeman said.

Using 30-pound monofilament line with a 60-pound leader, Horn battled the fish for about 20 minutes before getting it to the boat. When Littlejohn got it onboard he said it was the biggest blue cat he had seen.

“To be honest my arms hurt,” said Horn, who teaches at Dogan Middle School. “It wasn’t putting up a big fight. It just weighed so much I had difficulty pulling the reel one more crank.”

Without a reference to base the strength of the fish on, Horn thought it might have weighed maybe 25 pounds until it surfaced. Measuring almost 5 feet in length and 36 inches in girth, she was fearful at times that she might lose the rod to the fish during the struggle.

This is where catching fish trumped getting a name in the record book.

“After weighing it he offered to take the fish in to get it weighed on a certified scale. He also said it could take up to half our fishing trip time to do so, and she was happy to just keep fishing. My daughter said, ‘I believe you. If it is 89 pounds, I’m good with that,'” Freeman said.

Holliman also landed his catch, a smaller 60-pound fish.

So they fished, and in a three-hour window they landed a 20-pounder, two 28s, a 37, 44, and a 50. Their five best weighed 280 pounds, easily besting the all-time King Kat record of 239.8 caught in 2013 on Tawakoni.

Even more than Horn’s could-have-been record, the purpose of the trip was to get Holliman his trophy catch. He caught the 60 and added the 44 just for good measure.