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.