Who'd have thought we had them this big.

[TheFeniX]

Ok, let me start by saying: I'm not a big fisherman. The whole concept of going out somewhere to sit around waiting for fish to hook themselves on my line has never been a big deal to me. Now, what I do enjoy is going out to the lake in my parents back yard and fishing there because we can all get together with drinks and hang out while fishing. So basically, instead of sitting on the back porch talking, we're sitting by the lake talking and fishing. I hope that makes some sense.

Anyways, to keep this post even longer: my sister is getting married and is having the wedding at my parents house. As part of this, we are extending the back porch by probably 50 sq. ft. We worked from 9am Saturday and finished by about 5pm. So, Matt (my sister's fiance) was kind enough to go pick up some Shiners so we could fish.

Becky (my girlfriend) and I had to leave by 7pm to meet some of her friends for dinner (bleh), but we had a good two hours to fish. Now, I caught one little croppie about 5 minutes after casting, but didn't have a single hit after that.

Now, it's getting close to 7 and I'm ready to reel it in and call it a night to go home and shower before me meet up with her friends. So I stand up to reel in my line and my bobber goes under. I set the hook expecting a little croppie again. Instead something grabs my line and takes about 50 feet out in no time. I'm fighting just to hold the tension on the line. Now, it doesn't help that I've been man-handling 2x6's all day and working a pry bar. My forearms are on fire.

After running down to my neighbor's dock, I finally work the fish down to about 6 foot of line. Matt reaches into the water and pulls out this (click on any pic for a larger version):



Matt was betting it's about 25 pounds, maybe a bit more. I don't know exactly, but he wasn't fun to hold. I'm smiling because that's the biggest fish I've ever caught in freshwater. Even more so when I realize I caught the thing in my parents back yard.

Here's something up-close:

Needless to say, he was none to happy about his current predicament. He was too tired to thrash, but he did a lot of "croaking" at me.

And just for the "awwww" factor, here's one with Becky and I:


After we took our pictures, I tossed him back in the lake where he spent the next 15 minutes trying to catch his breath.

Becky and I were already WAY late, so we left him and headed home to clean up. My sister called me to let me know she poked him with a stick and he took off.

Oh yea, and here's what I caught him on:

Not exactly a 30 pound test line.

Anyways, he's still out there. And I plan to try and catch him again.

PS: yes, and I DO understand the irony of not being a big fisherman and wearing a shirt that says "Big Fish." I'm big on irony.

[aeroripper]

PS: yes, and I DO understand the irony of not being a big fisherman and wearing a shirt that says "Big Fish." I'm big on irony.

lol

Nice catch!

[=MAXx=]

VERY nice catch but to be honest, cat fish that size are very common; i live down in Miami and every weekend i get the chance i hit the FL Keys for some fishing. Im a HUGE outdoor sports-man and fishing is really one of my best specialties
Again, mad props for the catch man.
PS. wearing your cell-phone on your hip wy'll fishing is really not a good idea. just wanted to let you know

[TG_JBRanger]

AWESOME FISH! I too once landed a 18 pound cat. Took me an hour and a half! That sucker fought like crazy! LOL! Anyway, nice fish! BTW, they make for great eating. Especially deep fried. MMmmmmm.....

[Chewy]

Fenix, it's incredibly funny how much your picture matches your voice in-game!

I personally hate cat fish to eat but man are they fun to catch... first one I ever caught was just 2-3 pounds but fought so much harder... they can be dirty buggers, often taking the bait and then just "laying" down on the bottom of the lake or river and not budging. Only tougher catch was a Northern Pike I caught up in Minnesota. Glad you had fun!

[TheFeniX]

Originally Posted by =MAXx=

VERY nice catch but to be honest, cat fish that size are very common; i live down in Miami and every weekend i get the chance i hit the FL Keys for some fishing. Im a HUGE outdoor sports-man and fishing is really one of my best specialties
Again, mad props for the catch man.

Oh yea, I've seen pictures of catfish that are probably as tall as I am. But I was amazed that I caught one this size out in Weston Lakes.

This is in Pecan Lake which is a small narrow man-made lake that completely circles the neighborhood (which would make the only a few miles long).

This google map doesn't show the entire thing, but it's not too terribly much bigger. This catfish was sitting at the top of the food chain out here. Sure, we've got some small gators running around, but they'd probably think twice before going after this bad boy.

PS. wearing your cell-phone on your hip wy'll fishing is really not a good idea. just wanted to let you know

What can I say: I'm a rebel.

But seriously, the only reason it was on my hip was because I was literally about to leave. Had this catch happened sooner, I would have been bare-foot as well. This was one of those "Well, nothing's biting so let's pack it in..... OMG WHAT IS THAT!" moments.

[TheFeniX]

Originally Posted by TG_JBRanger

AWESOME FISH! I too once landed a 18 pound cat. Took me an hour and a half! That sucker fought like crazy! LOL! Anyway, nice fish! BTW, they make for great eating. Especially deep fried. MMmmmmm.....

That was the weird part. He literally hit my line at 7:00pm (I had JUST checked my watch). After pictures and everything, I checked my watch and it was only 7:20. After the first "hit" and subsequent pulling out of about 50 foot of line, he didn't put up much of a fight. My main issue was keeping tension on the line. Once he got over to my neighbors dock (to hide I presume) he pretty much "gave up the ghost" and I was able to reel him into shore without too much difficulty.

There were a few times I was certain the line was going to snap, but it wasn't like it was killing me to reel him in. Meh, lazy fish if you ask me. Actually wouldn't surprise me as there's pretty much nothing else in that lake that could harass him.

Pecan Lake really isn't known for large fish. We get some decent sized Bass over in Oxbow lake, but nothing near "Trophy Size." Mainly Croppie and Bass that are a few pounds.

This is really what threw me for a loop on this whole ordeal. The fact that I (of all people) probably nailed the largest fish ever out there. Weston Lakes used to have a small Bass Tournament at Oxbow, but I never heard of anything caught this large.

[=MAXx=]

Originally Posted by TheFeniX

This was one of those "Well, nothing's biting so let's pack it in..... OMG WHAT IS THAT!" moments.

LOL!!

Man i am way to familair with those types of moments; One time my buddy's and I were on the old abandoned bridges in key west (the state decided to stop using the old bridges and build a brand new one right next to all the old ones that conect the keys. Now its used for over night camping trips for hardcore fishermen like myself) we were just about ready to leave around 6 in the morning.

When I start reeling in my line; out of nowhere I get a huge tug that threw me to my knees on the hard concrete (six stiches on my left knee and eight on my right) before I knew, with the help of my best friend, we reeled in a 87LBS hammer head shark, relatively speeking it was still a baby so I really didnt have the legal authority to keep the shark.... but I did.... To this day thats the biggest sucker ive caught so far.

Sure was tasty though....

[UDKnight]

cool big fish

[enigma6584]

Nice fish, man I love fishing. I went up to Canada last year and had a blast.