Cactus gets away

he came to a stop near a small rock ledge that ran cross ways the river. It had impeded his forward progress. Had he not stopped i surely would have run out of line. I moved swiftly up the river bank to shorten the distance between me and that fish as much as possible. I stopped reeling for a moment to make sure he was still there and hadn't spit the hook into the rock bed on me. Oh yes, he was still there. I could feel him thrashing from side to side with his head as i started to reel the line slow and steady. That's when I found out the true power of the fish. I would battle with him until he was a mere ten feet from shore. When I went to land him he would take off without much effort he would run up stream forty or fifty yards then stop. Each he would run it seemed as if he was running further than the last." As Mike continued telling his story, Sir Jon wide eyed with amazement enjoying himself. With each word his excitement was building. Mike had his full attention as he continued his story. "I fought with big ol' mean catfish for nearly an hour before it looked like I had finally won the battle. The fish was coming to shore with very little difficulty this time. I kept a slow steady reel on him as I drew him closer and closer to shore. I could feel the excitement in my chest as my heart pounded wildly. The thought of getting that big fish to shore was very exciting. I got him to shore he made one last attempt to get away. I held on tight as he thrashed around in circles trying to dislodge the hook from his mouth. Exhausted he lay there with his head out of the water. I looked at him closely as I reached for him. He appeared to be smiling at me. I found that to be a little interesting since he was about to be dinner for me. I noticed something a little different about this catfish for the others I had caught. He had extra whiskers on the left side of his lower jaw. As my hand touch the back of his head he spun around one more time and arched his body wildly. I put both hands back on controlling the rod but it was to late. He had dislodged the hook from his jaw and slipped back into the water. All I could do was stand there and watch as he swam away leaving me stand there in amazement holding an empty hook. I estimate he weighted about twenty-five or thirty pounds." Sir Jon sat there in silence for minutes taking in what Adventurer Mike had just told. Thinking, "here is a master catfish fisherman admitting the he had lost a big ol' catfish just like anyone else could have done.