Can catfish fly? Woman says she was struck by one that fell from the sky

Sometimes you eat the catfish, and sometimes the catfish falls from the sky and smacks you in the face.

Lisa Lobree learned that lesson Labor Day morning as she was walking and heard a “rustling” in the trees, and then …

“Suddenly I was slammed by something,” Lobree recalled Friday. “I was like, ‘What?!’ I was freaking out.”

The injuries: Minor. The trauma: Immeasurable. The theory: A bird was flying with the fish in its mouth and accidentally dropped it. On her face.

Lobree immediately buckled to the ground, screaming – the only logical reaction when one is assaulted by a flying fish with whiskers. Her friend started screaming something about a fish. People were asking if she was OK. There may have been some crying involved.

“It definitely hurt me and I didn’t know what happened,” Lobree said.

At first, she thought there were fish guts on her face, but it turned out to be a cut near her eye. Later, her face started swelling.

Witnesses reported seeing a bird flying away – a vulture or hawk or eagle, maybe. The catfish was about 16 inches long, perhaps five pounds.

Based on the height of the trees above, Lobree said, the fish probably fell at least 50 feet, striking branches along the way.

“It’s a crazy, crazy thing,” she said.

Lobree walked home and took a long shower.

“I smelled really bad. I was so disgusted,” she said.

Growing up in Colorado, Lobree said, she used to go fishing, and she still “loves to fish.” With a rod and a reel. Not her face.

Before Monday, she had never caught a catfish.

“It was the first catfish that my face caught,” she said.

This story was originally published September 10, 2016 at 5:14 PM with the headline "Can catfish fly? Woman says she was struck by one that fell from the sky."