I can all but guarantee the question is actually “Has he been pulling my leg [about the existence of this insect] this whole time?”
I just realized the OP is from Birmingham Alabama. Just wanted to say “Hi”. I am from Bessemer(moved away in 1973 but still). How’s Dreamland? Roll Tide.
Not really a surprise that somebody somewhere would call one a chicken choker. So there is a beetle that exhibits this behavior (arguably). Still no proof that OPs dad was not pulling his leg. Admit it qed your only resource for this was google. Admit it and I will drop it.
That sounds like it exactly! I’ll be damned! Thanks!
Nope, I had the same thought and suggested that to him since there’s one in Huntsville, AL at the Space and Rocket center. He said that they closed the doors and floated around with no wires and no support of any kind. Exaggeration is one of his most developed skills. 
My grandmother lives in Bessemer so I’m very familiar with the area. Dreamland’s still kicking and still giving out white bread for napkins.
My wife is an Auburn fan and I’m indifferent. But please don’t tell anyone, you’re not allowed to be neutral in this state.
What do you expect me to use to find links? A dowsing rod? 
The sole point of my post (which seems to have utterly escaped your attention, perhaps unsurprisingly) was that yes, such insects exist and yes, people really do “fish” for them as described. I have no doubt the OP’s father’s success rate was greatly exaggerated.
That clear enough for you?
And since, on preview, I see the OP has responded, you can take that crow and stuff it down your throat. You want to continue baiting me, take it elsewhere. I’m done with you here.
Legitimate catching of some bugs by “fishing” with a straw or somesuch aside, the OP reminded me of a clever trick toy from my early childhood.
A boy brought to school this small, carved wooden cylinder, shaped not unlike a phallus and about six inches long, which was sawed in halves with a narrow, long, hollow chamber drilled in one, and on the other, a protruding prong with a tiny hook on the end. The challenge was to catch a tiny rubber band affixed at the bottom of the chamber with the hook on the prong. This the boy was able to do rather consistently, or so it appeared. “See?” he’d say, pulling the prong-end slowly away from the chambered half, and letting it go with a satisfying snap. Of course, the other kids failed to hook the rubber band… although eventually someone figured out the trick, probably inadvertently.
The trick was that the prong [male] end terminated in a smooth, tapered shape, which, if you moistened your fingertips before gripping it, could be “snapped” forward with a squeeze. No rubber band was involved.
askeptic & Q.E.D., take it to the pit or drop it.