The Submarine

Yesterday I might have upset a few Brits but if you know anything about British guys it's really not that big of a deal. First they will want to fight but after you get past pumbling  each other, all will be forgiven and you will drink for the rest of the night until you are best friends.

Now that I have educated you in the ways of England I need to get on with my life and fulfil my uncle David's request for a fishing story.

I was stationed with my wife in the major metropolitan area of Abilene TX. About an hour away was Lake Brownwood. I was alone this special night and decided to fish off the boat dock in front of the Brownwood hotel which closed it's doors after this incident occurred. I'm not saying that the two incidents are related but who know how many people disappeared off their docks. I know that one time when I was visiting this particular dock their was a brand new all white bass boat tied to the dock. Now of course their is nothing unusual about a boat tied to a dock but this particular boat was about a foot below the water only being held up with the dock ropes. Now those are some mean fish.

Any way I was about half way down the dock fishing for crappie in an empty boat stall, I had about four poles with minnows as bait. If you've ever been on a dock at night it's very relaxing. The dock creaking as the waves gently roll against the dock in a constant soft rhythm. I had been there a few hours and was very content. Just as I thought I saw a nibble on one of my rods I heard a loud crash and then a sharp bang. My heart stuck in my throat as I snapped my head toward the deep end of the dock where the crash and crack had come from and that's when I saw it.

The big catfish pole that I had set up at the end of the dock when I had first arrived and forgot all about was laying on top of the folded up lawn chair that had been upright supporting the pole a moment before. luckily I always tied my poles to the dock with clothes line. I ran down to the end of the dock with my heart in my throat and I could hear the fish taking line off the pole rapidly. I yanked the pole off the deck and pulled the end of the slip knot to untie the pole from the dock. Running to the end of the dock  in the direction of the fish I jerked the pole up hard to make sure the fish would not get away.

I had never caught that big of a fish on the bait I was using, To tell you the truth it was a pretty small piece of bait. I had 20lb test fishing line with a 50 pound metal leader. I had caught a 35 pound mud cat on this same set up and I knew if I turned her I had a good chance of fighting her back to the dock. So I tightened up the drag on my rod until the pole was doubled over. At this time I started to yank the rod left a couple of times and the fishing line never slowed down. I yanked hard right and still the fish never waivered off it's path. This fish was heading strait down the channel directly towards the middle of the highway 279 bridge that crossed the lake. I continued to yank left and then right as hard as I could until I saw that almost all my fishing line was gone. I had probable yanked on the fish thirty times to no avail.

At this time I knew I had lost and  I watched as the fish take the last twenty feet. I held my breath as it got to the very last were it was tied to my reel and without hesitation it snapped and I watched it slip through each eyelet in slow motion and fall the end of my pole into the water. I stood their all alone in disbelief as I pondered on how big a fish like that could have been. Now I could tell you many stories of big fish that I had caught but sometimes just like in life your failures are a lot more interesting.

Just like in life I learned from my mistake and never put 20lb test on another catfish pole. Just imagine how pissed off those Russians would have been if one American with a catfish pole had surfaced their nuclear submarine in the murky waters of Brownwood TX.