As odd as it may seem not all of the regulars were talkative. Most of the time they would sit back and listen to the tales of others and offer very little in return. I�d like to remind you once more that no Maineiac would purposely lie about hunting or fishing. They might stretch the truth until it almost broke, but a boldface lie, never. That was the reason when Silent Jim Homes asked one Cod Fish Day if he could tell the group about a catfish his brother, Honest Tim Homes, caught they all quickly agreed to be silent and listen.

According to Mr. Jim Homes his brother Tim was fishing one day on Moosehead Lake when he had a good bite. Now Mr. Tim Homes used a special bait he made from corn bread soaked in elderberry wine. (Can you imagine a catfish turning down a meal as tasty as that?)

Mr. Tim Homes let the catfish play around with his bait for a little while and then gave the line a good yank setting the hook. It was the biggest catfish Mr. Homes had ever hooked on to. He fought with the fish for three straight days and his sons and a couple neighbors helped him at night. The catfish was so big Moosehead Lake almost went dry when the monster was removed from the lake and two other fishermen who were out in the middle of the lake in a boat were left sitting high and dry.

Mr. Homes , Tim not Jim, couldn�t truthfully say how big the fish was but he had to borrow a  cannon and a ten pound cannon ball from the historic battle grounds in York, Maine to kill it. According to him the catfish had whiskers that measured thirty feet and the fish itself measured four feet....from eye to eye. Once he had landed his fish a woman walked out of the fishes mouth and fell down on her knees.

   �Thank you friend,� she said to Mr. Homes, �I never thought I�d see the light of day again. I�ve been inside his belly for over thirty days.�

   Mr. Homes wanted to do something good for his friends and neighbors so he gave them all enough catfish fillets to last each one a year and a day. He made fish chowder, which he gave to the people in seven different cities, and had so much left he gave six hundred gallons to Maine schools. Mr. Homes was one of those people that wouldn�t waste anything that was usable so he made suits from the skin and gave them to sixty five of his male friends. He also made a hundred tents from the skin and gave them to the Boy Scouts. That catfish was so big it took Mr. Homes six days to carry the bones away to the dump.

   �That�s just about the biggest fish story I�ve ever heard,� George Wallace said shaking his head and wondering about the degree of enhancement added to the story.

   �You calling me a liar, George?� Mr. Homes ,Jim not Tim, asked while looking Mr. Wallace straight in the eye.

   "Goodness no, Jim,� Mr. Wallace answered in all sincerity. �I didn�t mean it the way you think I did. What I meant was I have never heard a story about a bigger fish.�

   �You probably will pretty soon, George,� Jim informed Mr. Wallace and the rest of the group.

   �How come?�Mr. Wallace asked.

   �Well, brother Tim thinks he caught the baby catfish and he�s going back to see if he can catch the mother or father.�