Cat of the Ages

YAY!!! Lisa is home. They got home at 11:30, which was earlier than expected. Lisa said they all had a great time. They stayed up by the campfire (which they needed help with) till 1:30. Lisa couldn't sleep good and was up by 5:30 she said. So when she got home she was shot. She may have had a drink or two too:-) So I took Lexi and Zander to the parade in Franklin. Zach always takes a nice nap so that gave her 3 hours of quiet to nap too. She said she slept good.

The parade was for catfish days so they had an airated pool with all the catfish in from the contest. COOL! They had one that was 46 pounds in there. Huge. A bunch on 30 or so pounders too. Nick said ours was bigger than the 46 pounder but I thought it was about like the 30 pounders.

Our fish you ask? This is another fish story by Phil and Nick. For the last 3 years we have been going down to the creek by our house netting minnows and to play. 2 years ago we got a baby bass about 2 inches long and decided to keep him in our aquarium. We go down to get bait for fishing and feeding the bass every week or so. I keep them in a 55 gallon drum I got from work with an airator and filter in it.

So anyway....we were at the creek a couple weeks ago and we always see carp or even gars swimming in this one hole. This day Nick yells "Daddy a fish" So I go over to look and see a huge tail sticking out of a hole by the shore from a fallen tree. Nick say grab it. OK. I reached down and grabbed him by the tail and he did not like that. He swam back into the hole and turned around. Now I can see his head. wowowowowow. He is big, real big. I have never gotten a big cat but I guess 20 pounds just from seeing the tip of his head. Now I am getting excited. Nick what do we do ??? I tried poking a stick in his mouth to pull him out. I know, bad idea. I didn't think it would work. He swims back in the hole for a second and comes right back to the edge of the hole.

We stand and think what to do for a minute, and decide to go home to find something to use to get him. We run up to the car and head home, its about a 2 minute drive that I did in 90 seconds. As we are pulling into our street we see Eddie our neighbor coming back from the garden with a PITCHFORK. Perfect. He let us borrow it, probably thought we were nuts. We zoom back to the creek and run back to the hole. Zander came with so I had to carry him to the island to watch. Nick can't wait and runs to see if he is still there. He is. Let the games begin...

I walk over with the pitchfork. It has 4 blades on it with about one inch tines. I was hoping for the other kind of fork but this will have to do. We get in position. I lean over the log and put the fork as far in the hole as I can just behind the head. I ask Nick if he is ready. Here we go.... 1....2....3.... STAB,
SPLASH , PULL, NICK HELP ME HOLD IT!!!! I can barely hold it still. I push hard with the fork and it push through the big fish into the muck underneath. After what seemed like hours(exageration) the great fish calmed down. I held it for about 2 minutes and tried to pull it out. He is still in the hole and the fight has stirred the mud up pretty good. Still can't see a thing. I moved him maybe 6 inches and he went nuts again, so I held him still another 2 minutes. This was repeated 3 times until I was able to move him out into the current. Slowly the current cleared the water. Slowly the great beast became visible to us. First the head. Oh my gosh(edited for the children) He is huge. Nick yells "he could fit Zanders head in his mouth!!!" Then the rest of the water clears and we can see how long he is. And he is LONG!!! I estimate the beast to be 3 feet long.

Only now I see a problem. The fork only got him by a little of the skin on his back. Blood is flowing like a stuck pig. We hold him for 5 minutes just admiring his size. Fantasizing about bringing him home and taking so pictures for the Journal. After not moving for this abount of time I decide to try to drag him the last 6-8 feet to the shore. Suddenly with the force of 2 clydesdales he decides he has had enough of this and gives a mighty thrust with the tail and breaks free. Nick about jumped out of the water. I lifted the fork and slammed it down again, but alas he was gone. Right between my legs and back into his hole. We tried to feel him but the hole must go way back and he has had enough. Let me tell you about adrenaline. wow. I was pumped up for 45 minutes till we got up to the lake.

Lisa wanted to know why we did not bring the camera with to get a picture of the monster roaming our creek. I told her I was planning on bringing him home. Ever the optimist I guess.

So today when we saw those fish I would have to peg his weight at 36 1/4 pounds. Nick said bigger than the 46 pounder but he is only 8 years old with wide eyes. I am sure he will continue to grow over the years. By Christmas he will be 50 pounds at least and Easter 60 pounds. So ends the tail of the great creek cat.
I hope you enjoyed it.