The Perfect X’mas gift!
For Christmas 2016, I received the perfect gift, it
wasn’t a new rod and reel, it wasn’t a fish scale, cause I really like the one
I use, and it wasn’t gold bars. Are you done guessing?
You’ll never guess, so I’ll tell you. It was a 13 lb. Channel catfish. That’s right, I said channel catfish!
My honeybuns and I were camping at Lake Manatee State
Park for our Christmas time. Mostly so
we can drive into Tampa to be with my brother and his wife and friends.
On Christmas eve day, we decided to fish a few hours
before driving north to Tampa.
After launching our Sea Eagle, we immediately headed over
to one of our favorite fishing areas.
At first we caught and released a few small bluegills, so we just kept
moving around and casting toward the plants near the shore.
About half an hour later, we anchored near a large patch
of water lettuce.
I hooked up a night crawler, tossed it near the water
lettuce and sat my pole down while I took care of a small task.
Some minutes later, my pole started bending so much that
I thought it was going to go into the lake.
I started reeling in a fish that felt like a monster to
me. It took awhile to get it to our
boat, but honeybuns finally netted it safely.
NO, it wasn’t a 13 pounder! It was a 2’ long five pound Channel Catfish. I was like a kid with a new toy. Eating this type catfish is a real treat to
me so excitement was overflowing.
After that great catch, we motored over to another place
we like to fish at. Off in the
distance, we could see the guy who had launched ahead of us.
After reaching our fishing area, I started catching a few
more bluegills. Then I looked up and
saw that other fisherman we saw earlier coming toward us.
When he got closer, he yelled out, “do you want a
fish”? Naturally I couldn’t say no.
He lifted this 13 lb. Channel Catfish and my eyes almost
popped out of my head. My excitement
increased as we motored over to his boat.
Before handing it off, the guy told us he had to remove
the hook. And when he did that, he
explained that after landing this monster, he noticed that it was not only
hooked, but at the other end of the line was a brand new fishing outfit.
We were all in disbelief from that bizarre catch. We thanked him several times and motored off
back toward the ramp.
For our camping adventures during Christmas time, it just
doesn’t get any better than that. This
perfect Christmas gift will be one we shall remember for a lifetime!
