Tuesday, August 2, 2011

The Cat Days of Summer

I had a Deja Vu moment fishing yesterday. It was at the work pond and I was trying out some new fly patterns. I didn't have any action and the fish seemed shy and reluctant to even follow the fly. Then I saw movement in the water under a tree. It looked like a fish swirling. I cast right in the middle of the swirl and with in a second my line shot away from the bank and headed for deeper water. I yanked back putting the pressure of the 8wt against the fish. Line started stripping and the fish wasn't slowing down at all. This had to be a carp. I watched my reel spin and kept an eye on the line that was rapidly unraveling. In about 5 seconds this fish had almost taken me to my backing. Then the reel stopped. I thought maybe the fish came off but as I kept tension on the line and reeled in the slack I could tell the fish was coming towards me. I tried lifting the rod to bring the fish to the surface so I could get a good look at it. The fish would have none if it. It was bull dogging and keeping to the bottom. Then it bolted again stripping line and I knew this was going to be a fight. The fish kept doing patterns of coming close then running out to deeper water. The fish rolled and I saw its tailfin. It was the unmistakable tail of a catfish. I had caught a catfish last year at almost the exact same time. It was the same scenario too, I saw movement under the same tree cast the line out and the fish hit instantly. I couldn't tell if it was the same fish. This one seemed smaller. It sure had the same fight.

Then at the end I even had the same problem of how to land the fish. I didn't bring my net and there was a small cliff I had to lift the fish up on to. I was using 10lb line but I was still worried about the knot holding. This fish was heavy to just lift straight up. I tried a few times and my line kept getting wrapped around weeds and sticks on the bank. I eventually had a free space to pull the fish up. I grabbed the leader and POP my fly just came off. I thought maybe the hook bent but it was in perfect condition. I have no idea how the fly just came out. When I caught a cat last year I grabbed the fly and tried to pulling the fish up the bank then it shook its head and unhooked itself. I kicked myself for not bringing my net. I'm not sure it would have been big enough but it would have helped. I estimated the fish to be at least 5lbs.

5 comments:

  1. Hard luck Kev. It sounds like you had an almighty tussle!

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  2. You ain't kidding. I used to think Carp were the hardest fighters. Now I'm not so sure. I still have yet to catch a bowfin. So I need to do that before I can compare the three.

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  3. The cat is strong fighter.
    I have never taken him on the fly, but I sure remember my tussles with him on spin tackle.

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  4. Kev, your story confirms the wisdom of my policy of always carrying my net, even when I expect to catch only bream. About 2 weeks ago, while fishing the Eno, I caught an LMB while standing in waist deep water. The only way I could control the fish & unhook him was by netting him and then sticking the handle of the net under my arm as I wrestled the hook free. Net: don't leave home without it!

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  5. Those are the kind of times fishing that stick in your head until you head back for revenge. It always amazes me how some fish that come to hand are hardly hooked, and then some that you think you set the hook in good, go popping right out of the fish. Bummer. Just read your most recent post, and it looks like revenge was had. NICE. Tight Lines.

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