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Tenryu Rayz Alter pushed to the limit...
So I was fishing off our dock for bluegill and crappies yesterday, I caught a few but all small. I flipped a cast over to the shoreline and had an immediate take. I set the hook and could quickly tell that this was not a normal gill or crappie, the drag started to sing and the line was heading west, fast! I wasn't too sure what kind of fish was on but I thought it was a big catfish or white bass, I was using a salmon colored trout magnet. I was fighting this fish for a while and made some ground with it as I called up to my wife to get the net.
She came running down the stairs and the fish rose to the top, made a swirl and spit the hook!! Darn it ! It was still too far out and full of energy so the net wouldn't have helped out at that point anyway. My wife looked and me all slumped over and said, "maybe he'll come back". I thought to myself, they never give you a second chance...
I started casting again and caught a small crappie, and then looked over to the shoreline and flipped a cast over to the same area I had the big hook up, something big swirled but I didn't hook up, I quickly sent the trout magnet back on it's way and BOOM, big hit! The drag was off and singing again, this time the fish was heading down and got hung up in a log, I had to give it a little line and it freed itself and started heading out towards the end of the dock. I was fighting this fish, which by then I knew it had to be a good sized catfish, for atleast 10 minutes. I called my wife down again but this fish was not going to give up easy.
The fight continued on for another good five minutes and still I could not get the fish to come up hardly at all, I was at the mercy of the Tenyru Rayz Alter 61 LT and 3lb Fireline Crystal. I don't how many times I had to steer the fish away from under the dock and from going towards the shoreline and the whole time the Tenryu was bent to the point I could imagine it snapping right in half, but it continued to stay in the fight.
Finally I could feel the fish starting to come up to surface but the water was so muddy we couldn't see it even though it was just a few feet down. Just then the fish surfaced and my wife said, "I'm getting the bigger net!" To end the long story, we netted the Flathead catfish, took a few pictures, and sent him back to the muddy water after making sure he was ok.
It was a battle to remember, by far my biggest fish ever on light tackle and it was a blast, and I was tired ! I told my wife, I think I'm done for today...lol.
