This is a 13lbs. Catfish that I caught on a summer morning in 2004.

On a cold and cloudy summer morning my fishing buddy and I motored the boat onto the water. With a light breeze the fishing was sure to be excellent. I was using my trusty St. Croix six foot medium action medium power finesse rod with an Abu Garcia 1600 Pro Max. After reading Ray Scott's article about 4lbs line in Bass Masters earlier that year I spooled 4lbs Berkley XT on my reel. Since it was cloudy and top water wasn't doing to well I tied on a 1/8oz Charlie Brewer Slider jig with a 5 inch watermelon w/ black flake(194) Yamamoto Hula Grub. Hula grubs rigged on slider jig work great when fish are above carpet weeds (weeds that are about one foot tall and don't reach the surface). Half way back to the boat on the first cast I felt a hugh strike. I couldn't set the hook because that might brake the 4lbs line. So I removed the slack and wait for the fish to run. As the fish moved away from the boat I could feel the hook moving in the fishes mouth. Just when I thought I was going to loose the fish the hook penetrated and the fight was on. At drag started to scream I knew I didn't have a biter bass. As the fight progressed it became clear that I hooked a catfish. Bass head for structure and this fish was just running in a straight line. After a 12 minute fight I was able to get a hand on the catfish and haul it into the boat. The slider jig did a great job and stuck in the corner of the mouth. The catfish weighed 13lbs even and measured 29.5 inches, just short of a master angler. After getting this picture I released the catfish and continued to fish. A fantastic morning of fishing.