Their scale topped out at 99 pounds and when three 11 year-olds attempted to weigh their massive blue catfish, it crashed.

“When the tail was still on the ground it said 75,” said Layton Schwartz. “When we picked it up it flashed 108 then it started going crazy and blacked out.” 

Ultimately, the group – Schwartz and two of his fishing buddies, Hayes Urban and Bayler Langvardt – said they’ll never know the true weight of the fish. They can only guess.

When they called Urban’s dad, Justin, to help put the fish back in the water, they said he had to use both arms. 

“My Dad was shocked. He couldn’t even lift it with one arm and he can lift a lot,” Hayes said. “That’s why my friends fish with me they know we’re going to catch something good.” 

Getting the fish on shore was another task in itself; it took all three of them. First, Schwartz saw the pole – a 10-foot rod – and alerted the others. 

“I saw the pole bending and started yelling ‘fish fish fish!’ and I got the hook set in the best spot ever – right by the cheek. Then I gave it to Hayes because it was his pole.” 

Fishing to keep the fish from rocks and adding drag, Urban said he thought he’d caught a turtle.

“It wasn’t shaking like a normal catfish,” he said. “It wasn’t running. Then I had to use drag because it about pulled me in. It was shooting off to the sides,” with Schwartz adding, “It definitely would’ve snapped the line.” 

Next, the trio said they saw the size of the splash – it shook the water around them – and they knew they had something big. 

“We thought it was a big channel at first, it was a giant splash and shook all the water,” Langvardt said. 

From there, Urban went into the water. Schwartz followed and, after getting bitten, moved to the tail to push from the back. Langvardt, handed over fish grabbers while manning the pole.

In hindsight, they agreed a net would’ve helped; Schwartz had left his in his Dad’s truck, citing too much to carry, while Urban said he was banned from his Dad’s new net, having broken its predecessor. 

Their next move was to get the fish under water, heading to the nearby spigot to keep the fish wet. They had added motivation, noticing eggs and realizing it was a female who’d just spawned. 

“We got to the faucet and started a whole ton of water on it,” Langvardt said. “We didn’t want it to die.” 

However, after breaking the scale, they couldn’t lift the fish to get it back into the pond, which is when they called for parental backup. 

It’s not uncommon for the trio – plus others – to spend the entire day at the Utility Park Kiddie Pond. Before school was out it’s how they spent their afternoons. Packing a cooler – or even forgetting to eat because they are having too much fun. 

The friends start early, getting dropped off around 7 am. They almost always come with a pack of worms. 

“They’re there more than they aren’t,” said Schwartz’s Mom, Laura. “Maybe two or three days a week they skip.”

The crew starts at the creek, catching small bluegill as bait. Then they head to the pond to land the bigger stuff. Their prize catch was caught with a dead bluegill, one they think worked due to its smell. They also stunk after manhandling the catch, adding that they had to wash their hands multiple times with dish soap. 

Laura said she laundered the clothes three times and still may need to throw them away.

“My shirt still smells like catfish,” Langvardt said. “Nothing was working.”

On whether or not there’s a bigger catfish to be found in the Kiddie Pond, there were mixed responses, and even more ideas on how to find out, what types of bait to use, and likely, the observation that they’ll have to head to the River. 

“We know there’s smaller in there,” Schwartz said. “But I don’t know if there will be bigger.” 

On June 26th, three Clay Center kids caught a huge blue catfish at the Utility Zoo Park pond. The trio weighed the fish on a 99-pound scale when the device broke. Kansas data shows bluecats taking 16-30 years to hit 100 pounds, though that age can vary with food supply and genetics.

From left to right: Bayler Langvardt, 11, son of Brett and Jordi Langvardt; Layton Schwartz, 11, son of Cody and Laura Schwartz, and Hayes Urban, 11, son of Justin and Micah Urban.