The narrative of Jimmy Catfish starts peacefully in the 1950s with Cisco da Silva, captain of the last three masted schooner. Sailing back and forth from New Bedford to the islands of Cape Verde, he bravely battles the worst torments of the raging Atlantic Ocean. After a near fatal disastrous voyage he is forced into retirement on Cape Cod. That's where his troubles really begin.
His new life is at first peaceful and prosperous. A beautiful wife, a small lakeside cottage, a bit of land, and some cranberry bogs seem certain to portend an idyllic existence – but with the birth of his son – Jimmy Catfish, the amphibious boy - Cisco's life becomes a nightmare.
His skirmishes with the demons from the lake and the conflicts within his own mind lead him to a fiendish plot against his own son, who emerges as a leader of the scale-less beings that live under the surface of the lake.
Jimmy Catfish is the story of a good man's fight against the unfairness of life. It's also the tale of an unfortunate boy, born deformed and ugly but with skills and abilities far above the reach of even the stoutest Olympians.