Harold Stockstill of Mackinaw has a little something to be grateful for this Thanksgiving.

Make that a big something.

The 67-year-old retired Caterpillar worker has the memory of catching the biggest fish of his life at Greers Ferry, Ark., in early October.

Exactly how big is the question. The blue catfish pegged the scales.

"My electronic scale went to 50 pounds," Stockstill said. "The people at the resort had a mechanical scale that went to 60, and it bottomed it right out."

The Stockstill family fishes for crappies at Clinton and Shelbyville and at Mark Twain in Missouri. They take catfish from Clinton and from the Mackinaw River. Before the Arkansas catfish, the family's biggest fish was a 25-pound buffalo caught by grandson Wayne, who recently turned 13.

The funny part is the blue cat was a bonus. Stockstill was there with his wife, Mildred, his son, Robert, and Wayne to catch the big striped bass Greers Ferry has built a reputation on. Every day for three weeks, they got up, ate breakfast, fished, ate lunch, took a nap and fished until dark.

"We never missed a day of fishing," said Stockstill, who compared the routine to "just like work."

But this was a whole lot more fun.

Returning to Devil's Fork Resort each evening, they cleaned their day's catch and tossed the remains into the lake near the dock, a common practice there. As you can imagine, the food chain is very active at that spot. At night, resort guests use eggs from the fish as bait on unweighted rigs with 20-pound test to catch anything that happens to bite.

Stockstill cast his line, but it never reached bottom. It started to move away.

He did what any experienced fisherman would do and set the hook.

"It was like being hooked on the bottom for a while," he said.

The fish made one run, stripping line out farther and farther. Stockstill reeled back up, pulling in what felt like mostly dead weight. Then, the fish made another run. Stockstill thinks it ran a third time before he finally got it turned and up to the shore for pictures and hoorahs.

"I didn't catch one before that or after that (that night)," he said.

Still, Stockstill was thankful. Sometimes, it's not about quantity. Quality is the key.

Club notes

- Larry Dozard of the Web site Larry's Fishing Hole will speak on fishing the moon phases and solunar tables when the Faithful Fishermen meet at 7 p.m. Nov. 19 at the Lexington Community Church in Lexington.

- Premier muskie guide Gregg Thomas of Mille Lacs in Minnesota and Cave Run in Kentucky will speak to the Central Illinois Muskie Hunters on Dec. 1 at the Interstate Center in Bloomington. Doors open at 5:15 p.m. The public is welcome, and admission is free.

Tournament notes

- The team of Jim Beaty and Manuel Santa Cruz won first place in the 2007 Illinois Muskie Tournament Trail Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World Illinois State Invitational Muskie Championship on Lake Shelbyville last weekend. They caught six muskies from 30 to 39 inches during the two-day event. Fourteen muskies were caught, measured, and released. Lenny Goldsmith and Dennis Ledgerwood from the Chicago area were second with two fish, one 30 inches and the other 40.

Robert Taylor of Minonk was crowned the overall tournament trail point earner for the year. Mike Witowski of Crestwood had the largest muskie recorded on the 2007 tournament trail, a 47.5-inch fish caught during the Lake Shelbyville Fall Classic.

- The Illinois Walleye Trail hosts two events on the Illinois River this winter. The first is Nov. 25 at Henry. The second is Dec. 2 at Ottawa. Cost is $140 per two-angler team in advance and $15 more the day of the event. For information, call (309) 527-6328 or visit www.prairielandeyes.com.

Scott Richardson is Pantagraph outdoor editor. Phone (309) 820-3227 or e-mail srichardson@pantagraph.com. Read past outdoor and fishing columns or take part in online discussions at www.pantagraph.com/blogs.