Today I am going to tell a story that recently happened to me. If you followed me in the past, you know that my stories can be, well, over exaggerative. The stories I tell actually occurred, but with a satirical twist. So, enjoy the story…
The tale begins at a local community pond. These ponds are stocked by the Arizona Game and Fish Department, usually with trout in the winter and bass, sunfish, and catfish in the spring and summer. I had visited this pond many times before and had only caught a single fish, a bass that probably wouldn’t have even measured on the scale. However, I hate being stumped, and I vowed to figure the lake out, no matter how many times I left fishless.
On this day, I decided to try for catfish. I wasn’t much of a cat fisherman, as I hate bait fishing. I’d much rather be constantly casting and working a bait than let that bait sit for what seems like eternity. On this day, though, I decided to try it.
I brought two rods; a small 5’6” ultralight rod with a Shimano Sienna reel sporting 12lb mono, and a 6’ medium heavy Shimano Scimitar with a Pfleuger reel sporting 20lb braid and a 12lb mono leader . The second rig was perhaps a little large for the small catfish we would be catching, but I figured it would be fine (this becomes important later).
I first set up my ultralight with a classic, Carolina-style catfish rig, using secret bait. I cast out a decent distance, and start to set up my other rod with the same style rig. Not paying too much attention, my ultralight starts being dragged into the water! It had only been about 90 seconds, and I was sort of in disbelief. I threw my other rod down, grabbed the ultralight, and set the hook.
Nothing.
I was too late. I reeled in quickly and rebaited the hook. This time, I completely set up both rods before casting. I cast both rods out and let them sit…
In all reality though, I didn’t let them sit. It was almost as if that as soon as the bait hit the bottom, a fish took it. I got another hit on the ultralight, set the hook, and sure enough, fish on.
Granted this was an ultralight, but this fishing was fighting hard. I knew it had to be a decent fish, perhaps a 2 pounder.
After a good 3-4 minute fight, I land the fish.
“IT”S A GIANT!!!”, I yell in my head. This fish was a 4.5 pounder, and was the biggest catfish I’d caught in Arizona. I was pretty stoked, and shaking from the adrenaline rush.
At the same time, an Asian gentleman not too far away from me also caught a giant, what looked to be about a 6 pounder. (This also becomes important later)
ALSO at the same time, something else happened. Another gentleman, of who must have experienced heartbreak the night before, decided to visit the park. I don’t know about you, but when I experience heartbreak, my first thought is to visit the nearest fishing pond and sing my heart out to slow love songs – this guy had the same thought process as I.
We will call this gentleman “John”.
John sang as loudly as he could to classic 90’s R&B and country songs as he tried to serenade the nearby ladyfish. He even completed the performance with some dance moves.
This was the perfectly well-rounded fishing experience. Who wouldn’t love a concert while catching some lunkers? I mean, this is the type of thing us sportsman dream about, right?
And so I proceeded. The hot action continued as I caught little ones, and even a couple of bass.
One of the small bass caught, ironically on nothing but a red hook.
As the minutes continued, so did John, and the fishing slowed.
“Wow, what a concert!”, a pedestrian said as they walked by.
“I know, I didn’t even pay for a ticket!”, I said back to them as they chuckled.
It was among my final casts as the Arizona sun continued to bake me. I switched to only 1 rod by this time, my bass rod. Suddenly, I got a bite. A big bite, but not big enough to set the hook.
Then another.
And another.
And then I set the hook…
This wasn’t like any fish prior. This fish had sheer power. My drag started screaming as line started peeling off my reel. Keep in mind, as I mentioned before, this isn’t a small rod setup, and here this fish was putting a large bend in the rod and almost ripping the rod from my hands.
I finally begin to fight back after a solid minute of drag screaming. I keep fighting and fighting until, finally, I see him surface.
It was at this moment that I realized that I needed to be more careful, as this fish could outweigh my 12lb leader, that’s how large it was.
“WE’RE GOING TO NEED A BIGGER BOAT!!!” I yell as this fish starts fighting again and John starts humming the Jaws theme song loudly.
After about 6-8 minutes of fighting, I get him close to shore. At this point, I’m not sure how I’m going to land the fish, as I don’t have a net with me, and I don’t want to flip it up. I’m going to have to gram ‘em and hope all goes well.
Ya know in Avengers: Infinity War when the Avengers are in Wakanda getting destroyed, and then here comes Thor, Stormbreaker overhead, and he saves the day (is this is a Spoiler? If so, SPOILER ALERT)?
Well, that’s what happened with the Asian gentleman. He came running over to me, net overhead, and scooped the fish up. He threw it on the bank as I said “thank you so much!”.
He just smiled.
“I saw you caught a big one too!”
He just gave me a thumbs up, as I realized that he spoke no English, and ran away back into the sunset with his net.
And that’s it folks. I caught a 12 pound mondo that day, the biggest catfish, and perhaps the biggest fish, I’ve ever caught. It was a day to remember, and a day I won’t forget.
Both large catfish that were caught. The top fish is the 4.5 lb catfish, while the bottom one is the 12 lb catfish.
A few days later I had a large fish fry at work with the catfish, complete with mashed potatoes and baked beans.
*Disclaimer, in large bodies of water, I don’t keep large catfish, but in these community waters, 80% of fish will be removed by fisherman, so I might as well keep them.