GREAT DAY FISHIN

[chris kowaleski]

So i borrowed my uncles john boat a while back and finally got to go out and use it. A friend and I went out on this pond that we fish pretty often from the bank, but we finally got out on the boat so we could access all the other spots. Took about 3 dozen minnows, hooked one onto my 6ft light action rod with a porcupine quill bobber and six pound test. After fishing for about 30 minutes without a bite casting near the bank by a fallen tree, i finally started to get some hits. Shortly after i reeled in a small but good looking blue gill. I cast a little bit to the left of where i caught that one, and i get another hit, and it was kind of a wierd one but i set the hook and my bobber is under and i'm reeling something in. Then all of the sudden it pulls and drag starts running super fast and towards that fallen tree. It breaks the surface and i just stare in amazement. After about five minutes i tire it out and get it up to the the side of the boat. I'm actually quite scared/excited because i've never caught one of these, wasn't expecting to see one this big. The scale read 5lbs. After we released it, my line was INCREDIBLY twisted, it was crazy. So twisted i had to cut a lot of it off. I ended up catching another one around the same size or slightly bigger, and this one was about five feet from the boat when it jumped about 3 ft clear out of the water. It was amazing. I got it up to the side of the boat again and was marveling at it's prehistoric glory, after a few minutes i tried to get it in but it broke the line.  A little bit later, we went to a different part of the pond and i cast to a different spot near the bank, and shortly after my bobber hit the water, it went under and i set the hook. I felt something pretty good on there and i get it to the boat and it's a spotted gar! Another first time fish. I release that one, and after a while i cast a little to the left of where i caught that one, and my line below the bobber looked like it landed on some algae or something because it was laying flat, so i reeled i up a bit and it was still acting funny, then it started twitching. So i set the hook again, and i hook something GOOD. Pullin drag out a ton, running all over the place, under the boat, everywhere. It even jumped into some big branch that was hanging in the water, and i somehow managed to get it out of it without the line breaking. I keep fighting this beast, and get it close to the boat, and it JUMPS IN and i'm freaking out, haha. Finally get it under control, and weigh it and it was another 5lb bowfin. We move to the other side of the pond, and we're getting a bunch of weird bites, but one actually takes my bobber under and i set the hook and holy CRAP. This thing was fighting incredible, pulling so much line out. I looked down at my reel and i was almost out of line! It eventually got snagged on something, so we boated over to it and it came un snagged, and the fish was still on. I'm reeling that beast in and it's getting closer to the boat and goes underneath, and i thought my rod was about to break, it was so bent. I finally get it up and i was surprised to see that it was about a two to three pound catfish, not sure if it was a channel or a blue. But that fight was insane.

SO YEAH, i had a hell of a day fishing, caught 3 five pound bowfin, a spotted gar, which i've never caught either of those,  a pretty decent bass, and some small crappie and a sunfish on a light action rod with 6lb test. I'm okay with that!!!

[chris kowaleski]

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