foodsaver, Nickajack, Catfish, 8/8/12, Zach Ferrell HOF

[FishNews]

Zach and I had been meaning to go out for a while and finally got a chance to go. We put in at riverpark and we were on the water about 6:00. We only fished two spots as the fish in the second spot were pretty steady until dark. First spot we caught several small fish a 16 (Zach's personal best until a little later that night) a 12 and a 7. I told Zach we were moving since there didn't seem to be any big fish there. We anchored up in the second spot and I knew with 44k flow that we had a good chance at a big fish. We sat there for about 15 minutes before 1 rod slammed down in the rod holder. I told Zach here's your big fish. He fought the fish for about 20 minutes before I reeled in the rest of the rods and pulled up the anchor. Once I did that we had the fish in the boat in just a few minutes. I had left my big scale at the house and only had the 50 lb scale in the boat so I thought I would measure the fish so we would know how much it weighed. I take the length measurement and it was 52.75 inches long then as I am trying to get the girth measurement the fish flips its tail smacking my hand and I watch my nice new knife go flying through the air into the water emoBang emoHoppingmad Oh well. I then get the girth measurement that was 32.25 inches by the formula for weight (LxGxG)/800 the fish weighed 68.5 lbs. Zach having previously never seen one in person as big as the 16 just has a look of awe on his face. We took a few pictures and slid the beast back in the water. We went back and anchored at the top of the hole again to see if that one was alone. It wasn't I caught a 45 to go with Zach's 68. Rusty of course fell out of the boat while we were fighting both fish I was able to get him with the net the first time but the second he just had to do the dog paddle for a minute until I could get the fish in the boat. We had one other small fish that I didn't bother weighing so all in all a really good night. 6 fish in 3 hours keeps you busy enough. These were my first big fish with my new much heavier gear and I have to say I think I finally have the tackle to break 100 lbs. The rods are TWC extreme rods and the reels were abu garcia alphamars.<br /><br />http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj8/bobaftt1212/Fish/IMAG0114.jpg<br />http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj8/bobaftt1212/Fish/IMAG0115.jpg<br />http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj8/bobaftt1212/Fish/IMAG0111-1.jpg<br />http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj8/bobaftt1212/Fish/IMAG0109-1.jpg<br />http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj8/bobaftt1212/Fish/IMAG0105-1.jpg