04-27-2009, 09:00 AM
Are ya gettin' tired of my big fish reports?------------I'm not!! emoBig
emoBig <br /><br />I had no intention of going out fishing today until Polo-dog contacted me and asked if today would be good for me to take him cattin&#39;. We have been trying to get together for quite a while, and even though I had soremouthed the fish yesterday, I thought we might do OK.<br /><br />Do OK????? The rain had just quit and the cold front was in the process of passing, it was cool (actually kind of cold) and the wind was miserable. But what a wonderful day it turned out being!!!!!!!<br /><br />I put a nightcrawler on to try for smaller bluecats and maybe a channel cat or two, while I set Mark up with a nice skipjack so he could catch the big blues. Mark struck twice with fish in the mid-teens. Good start! <br /><br />Of course (don&#39;t ask me how this happens) I then wound up hooking a 76 pound goliath blue cat on that nightcrawler!!! After a great fight and both of us dragging the netted monster in, Mark went to unhook the giant and started laughing - there was what was left of last night&#39;s BIG snack sticking out of the fish&#39;s gullet! I put on my gloves and went to pick up the fish when it clamped down HARD on my already-sore-from-yesterday&#39;s-catfish-bite hand, but it had caught one of my fingers folded up and I honestly thought it was going to break it. I&#39;m not sure that I squealed like a girl, but I certainly intended to! This was the hardest I&#39;ve ever had a catfish clamp down, and it did it repeatedly. With all of the big cats I have caught, I have never been bitten like this!!! I thought that it was fortunate that Mark is an emergency room physician since I&#39;d probably need one to set that finger.<br /><br />We shot photos and got the weight and had just plopped the fish overboard when I looked up and here comes Cathooker, wanting to know how big it was and just shaking his head. Turns out the man was ratting me out to Spurhunter all day long - every time I hooked another big fish.<br /><br />Mark was looking for some TARP-sized fish, and he caught at least 3 of them! His biggest 5 were 34 lbs, 31, 20, 18, and 17. He also caught a bunch of fish from 8 to 16 pounds. Nice day Polo! emoThumbsup emoThumbsup <br /><br />Once again, and through no fault of my own other than the EricM luck, I couldn&#39;t keep the big fish away. As much as I wanted Mark to catch a truly big cat, it was not to be because they kept hitting my offerings instead. Today I landed a 76 lb, a 68, a 65, a 53, and a 20 (along with a bunch of those 8-to-15&#39;s) for a personal 5-fish sack of 282 pounds, and with Polo&#39;s help our big 5 went 296, just a hair short of an average of 60 lb each. emoEek <br /><br />Mark, I had a fabulous day with you! Thanks for getting me out there on the best big-fish day of the year!<br /><br />And now, of course, the proof:
emoBig <br /><br />I had no intention of going out fishing today until Polo-dog contacted me and asked if today would be good for me to take him cattin&#39;. We have been trying to get together for quite a while, and even though I had soremouthed the fish yesterday, I thought we might do OK.<br /><br />Do OK????? The rain had just quit and the cold front was in the process of passing, it was cool (actually kind of cold) and the wind was miserable. But what a wonderful day it turned out being!!!!!!!<br /><br />I put a nightcrawler on to try for smaller bluecats and maybe a channel cat or two, while I set Mark up with a nice skipjack so he could catch the big blues. Mark struck twice with fish in the mid-teens. Good start! <br /><br />Of course (don&#39;t ask me how this happens) I then wound up hooking a 76 pound goliath blue cat on that nightcrawler!!! After a great fight and both of us dragging the netted monster in, Mark went to unhook the giant and started laughing - there was what was left of last night&#39;s BIG snack sticking out of the fish&#39;s gullet! I put on my gloves and went to pick up the fish when it clamped down HARD on my already-sore-from-yesterday&#39;s-catfish-bite hand, but it had caught one of my fingers folded up and I honestly thought it was going to break it. I&#39;m not sure that I squealed like a girl, but I certainly intended to! This was the hardest I&#39;ve ever had a catfish clamp down, and it did it repeatedly. With all of the big cats I have caught, I have never been bitten like this!!! I thought that it was fortunate that Mark is an emergency room physician since I&#39;d probably need one to set that finger.<br /><br />We shot photos and got the weight and had just plopped the fish overboard when I looked up and here comes Cathooker, wanting to know how big it was and just shaking his head. Turns out the man was ratting me out to Spurhunter all day long - every time I hooked another big fish.<br /><br />Mark was looking for some TARP-sized fish, and he caught at least 3 of them! His biggest 5 were 34 lbs, 31, 20, 18, and 17. He also caught a bunch of fish from 8 to 16 pounds. Nice day Polo! emoThumbsup emoThumbsup <br /><br />Once again, and through no fault of my own other than the EricM luck, I couldn&#39;t keep the big fish away. As much as I wanted Mark to catch a truly big cat, it was not to be because they kept hitting my offerings instead. Today I landed a 76 lb, a 68, a 65, a 53, and a 20 (along with a bunch of those 8-to-15&#39;s) for a personal 5-fish sack of 282 pounds, and with Polo&#39;s help our big 5 went 296, just a hair short of an average of 60 lb each. emoEek <br /><br />Mark, I had a fabulous day with you! Thanks for getting me out there on the best big-fish day of the year!<br /><br />And now, of course, the proof: