My Day Fishing

The other day when I took the kids to Bass Pro Shop to do some trout fishing I picked up a few things, one of them being a lipless crank bait. I had seen them before lots of times but was hesitant to buy one because those treble hooks are so exposed. I figured I'd get snagged on everything since most of the places I fish aren't more than maybe 15 feet deep. But I had watched an episode of Classic Patterns where a guy was using a red lipless crank. He would lift his rod, then reel down as the bait would drop, then repeat. Doing that over and over, he said that for some reason it made the fish think that little, red, fish-shaped bait was a craw. So, when I saw that same kind of bait at Bass Pro that day I figured I'd give it a shot. Plus, it was only $3, so I didn't have much to lose.

Well, I was right. I went to Harveston today and tied that bait on. And those big treble hooks proceeded to drag up all kinds of stuff off the bottom of that lake. I had to make sure I was really working that retrieval method well to keep it from dragging the bottom.

I moved into what I figured would be the last spot I would try for the day and wouldn't you know it? I got that thing snagged on a rock. "NO!" Man, I like that crank. I don't want to lose it! So I start walking a little to try to free it up and luckily was able to work it free. Yes!

It's starting to get late and I figured I give it one last cast. And wouldn't you know it AGAIN? I got snagged.

Except, this time I snagged a 10 pound catfish!

I felt my bait strike something and as I was about get frustrated, in that split second my entire rod bent completely in half. I thought, "That's not normal for a rock!" Then my line started singing right off of my reel, and I started having delusions of grandeur. As I starting fighting this thing, I was picturing a big 10 pound LMB come flying out of the water doing a headshake, but it never did come up. I fought that thing long enough to attract a crowd and started to realize this probably wasn't a bass.

As I got it close to the bank a lady said, "You caught it by the tail!?!? Isn't that backwards??" I had snagged this great big catfish with 2 hooks from one of the trebles. One hook was through the tail and the other was through the skin just above the tail.

Everyone was chattering all over the place.

"That's a really big fish!!"

"Wow! Maybe I WILL come fishing here."

"I didn't know there were fish that big in this lake."

"You didn't even bring a net????"

This last comment was directed to me as I was reaching for my pliers. I couldn't get a good hold on him, so I figured I'd just grab the hooks with the pliers and release him straight back into the lake without picking him up.

I got the first hook out of his skin. Then I reached for my camera before removing the second hook. I figured I'd at least get a picture of him hanging 1/2 in the water before releasing him. He must have caught a second wind right then because he jerked himself right out of my grip.

With one hook still in him he took off like lightning towards the deep water. I reached for my rod, and as he reached the end of the initial slack he already had enough momentum. He snapped my line (12 pound test) like it was a blade of grass, and I watched him speed off into the deep with my beautiful lipless crank swimming along behind him ... still stuck in his tail.

I knew I'd get that bait snagged and end up losing it!

><)))>