The One That Got Away

I really didn't expect to catch much this evening when I went out to the dock to fish. Yesterday's rain left the lake brimming full. Add to this high water level,  about everything imaginable that can  float. There were  lots of sticks and a few logs. I tried to cast to open places when I could find one. The fish seemed to hit my lure soon as it landed. Sometimes I would troll through the yuck and still catch fish.  I must have caught 25 crappie, before I got a monster hit.  

The reel went singing and I knew immediately  had a large fish on the line. I just  wasn't sure  how large it was. Typically this time of year it's a 5-6 pound Channel Catfish or a large mouth bass. This fish was much larger than a 6 pounder. I could  gauge the size of the fish,  from the glimpses I caught of it when the fish broke the surface. Our battle lasted 20 minutes, with the fish making numerous long runs. Finally when I got to were I could land the Channel Catfish, I had a new problem. Since I had no net with me on the dock, pulling  a fish this size out of the water on 4 pound test line would be formidable challenge.  I could have grabbed the inside of the fish's mouth with my hand, however I would end up with a bloody hand. Instead I tried to grab a short length of line and pull him up on the dock. When I did the fish twisted just enough to get free.  I was briefly devastated, because  I seldom lose a big fish. 

 After that I went back to the house and got my larger fishing net. Even though I continued to catch fish after that, fishing for me just wasn't the same. I did manage to land another large Channel Catfish, somewhere around the 5 pound mark.  While the fight this fish  gave was nice, it just didn't compare to the battle the  one that got away gave me. Still, I can't complain much, when I didn't expect to catch any fish. I ended up catching over 50 crappie and 2 large Channel Catfish(yes I did count the large one I lost). Not bad for 1.5 hours of fishing.  I know I'll try it again tomorrow.