Old Skool Catfishing

This was on the front page of The Hutchinson News when I was 15.

Well, this was 20+ years ago so Ill do my best to get all the details right.  I remember sittin in the house with grandpa, bored out of my mind, watching tv.  I told him we should go fishing despite the heat, so we packed up and hit the bait shop.  Since we were just going to a local park pond, all we picked up was a few dozen worms.

We got to the lake, baited up and started throwing out lines.  No sooner than I set my rod in the holder it buckled over nice and slow, so I grabbed the pole, set the hook, and it was off to the races!

At first, I really didnt even think it was a fish.  It was almost like dragging dead weight through the muddy bottom.  I just assumed it must be a big ass turtle, until I got him close enough to see it was the biggest fish Id ever had on the end of my line. 

This lake had been plagued with severe moss around the entire bank so, I was worried about how I could drag this pig up to the bank on 14 pound line.  Out of nowhere, grandpa jumped in the lake and waded out past the moss, waist deep.  The whole time he was screaming "Keep that som-bitch outta the moss!"  After about a 30 minute battle grandpa grabbed his bottom lip and dragged him up on the bank.  I was amazed!

We roped him up to a nearby tree and placed him in the water.  "What do you wanna do?  You wanna fish or do you wanna take him to the bait shop and get him weighed?"  I couldnt wait. "Lets go now!"  So we put him in the back of the truck and a sat there the entire way to the bait shop pouring water over the fish.  We get to the bait shop and I carry the fish in and place it in his livewell and proceeded to tell him my story.  He could hardly believe where I caught it and that it bit on worms.  He told me it was 42 pounds.  (I know now, after my 42 I got in May, it was more like 32 pounds)  It was the biggest fish to be caught in that park in 20-30 years so he called the newspaper and they came out to do this story.

About a month later, I get a knock on the front door and it is our local game warden.  "Uh oh.  He was there to inform me that selling a live game fish in Kansas was illegal.  The bait shop owner should have known better.  He was cool though and wanted to know all about how and where I caught it.  I did not end up in any trouble.  He said that next time I got a monster not to sell it or not tell the paper I did.  I will never forget my first flathead catfish.