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Here is some good reading on a catfish "stabbing". http://blog.catchyourlimit.com/2007/07/big-man-stabbed-in-back-with-catfish.html

My brother caught a nice 7 pounder the other day. One of the trebles caught him in the upper eye area. Man we worked as hard as we could to get that hook out without inflicting any more damage. Looked real good when we finished that he would not lose the eye.

There is your mistake. Obviously others do to. Sorry your boat was ripped off.

Nice fish!!....now next time keep him off the dang floor!!

Wind problem...just drop the rod tip down to the water and to the side and the line will stay in the water almost up to the boat or the bank. You can stay in touch with the Senko a little better. If you have the tip up and all that line out of the water, the wind will whip it all over the place.

I did not go fishing for 35 years and never caught a bass over a pound or two when I joined this forum about a year ago. I have so far caught numerous 5 pounders and a 10Lber and a 10+ pounder. You will catch the fish when you least expect it. Treat every cast with importance. Don't waste your time on what is not working. Know that there are big fish where you are fishing by learning about the water you are on. If you don't spend a LOT of time on the water you will not learn much and your chances of catching a trophy bass will be zilch. Learn to adjust the drag while playing the fish and learn to back reel. Let the fish go where he wants to and NEVER try to turn a big bass. If you have a good hookset with a sharp hook then you can let him run and dive and whatever he wants to do for the short time that he fights. I have not caught a bass yet that put up a 10 minute fight or anything like that. If you are using say 10lb test line, you will wear him out in a few minutes, and use a net!! Most fish are lost when anglers loose their concentration and try to put pressure on the fish. Let the fish run! That is the incredible fun of it. He will not run out 50yds of line or anything like that. Just keep your rod up and watch what he is doing giving him line when he wants it and taking it back when he does not fight. I found that the bigger the fish, the less the fight. They seem to wear out pretty fast, but the initial fight is VERY powerful. The ones that will give you a good time are the 4-7 pounders. Big Bass master Bill Murphy said you need to practice on the 5 pounders learning the rod skills so that when you do hook up with a monster, you will be ready. Best to you in your quest. I never thought about catching a big bass, but I spent so much time out on the water presenting good baits that I guess the law of average went in my favor. Now, I am not surprised when I hook a good fish. Lastly, don't be devasted when you hook one and loose it. If you hook one, you are at least doing something right. Keep on trying and keep on enjoying fishing no matter what you catch or don't catch.

INFLATABLE VESTS!!!! YES!! My son and I also had an accident with our boat and fell in the water. The vest saved our lives. The gear does not matter. Canoes are not stable enough for me to be in for fishing. You might rethink that one.

I would think that the metal stringers that look like huge snap swivels might be less damaging to the gills than the rope stringer.

I don't kiss anything that hangs out with catfish!

That is a fine fish. I don't know though about the methods of just setting the hook and then reeling away until the fish is at the boat. With the big rod and the heavy line to throw the big swim bait....sounds more like salt water fishing to me. I enjoy giving the fish a bit of a chance with modest line/rod weights and the sport and skill of playing the fish, adjusting drag, back reeling etc. Sometimes you win, sometimes the fish wins. This swim bait style of setting the hook and dragging them in......I don't know. I watched the videos on the Huddleston website of the fellow catching those 15-19lb bass on the swim baits. Looked like he was fishing for Tuna or something. Maybe I will try some of the smaller swims to see if I can use my regular set up and techniques with them.

I tried a couple of those. Big bream looking things. Swam good..too heavy. They went back the next day.

Back in the 50s and 60s you went fishing to catch fish to eat! Now the emphasis seems to be on the SPORT so the encouraged norm is to realease as much as you can. This can be not so good though. If you harvest the 1-2 pounders in a lake it will help out the trophy size bass. Now the issue comes into play as to what you do when you catch a trophy size fish. There was a time when many were kept for mounting. Now a days a good picture and maybe a repro fish will suffice. I always give the big ones back to the lake to have another chance and catching again and to keep the gene pool strong. I have found that most of the people I see fishing who keep everything they catch for food are outside the realm of "sport" fisherman and really don't practice ANY sort of conservation or good fishing practice anyway. I don't let them spoil my day. They usually only catch smaller fish anyway and this helps out. My brother lives on a 50 acre lake. The lake management company that monitors the lake sends out a notice telling them to please keep or just throw up on the bank certain size fish in order to maintain a healthy environment for the larger fish, so there is something to harvesting for food. I see nothing wrong with keeping a few "eating size" fish. I don't know about taking 50 or 60 crappie or bream at a time. You should just take enough for a good meal.

My brother has a wall full of bass tournament trophies. We were fishing the other day and I caught some nice ones. He estimated them at close to 10, 7, and 5. We had no scales and no camera. He and I will always remember the fish though. Don't worry about not having the camera. You know what the fish looked like and you have some measurements. Nobody can ever change your mind on what you did and what you saw. It will be something to think about for a long time! Go get some more!

"Pontoon-tang"

Went fishing with my brother yesterday at the 50 acre lake he lives on over in Alabama. I used a white chatterbait and caught a 9.5Lb a 7lb a 5 lb and a 2 lb bass. We should have been in a tournament!! My brother graphed a 6 ft deep hump that tapered off to about 13 ft. They were laying all around the hump with not one fish on the top of the hump. The picture of the hump with no fish was so revealing. I learned a lot. My brother is very ill with a form of blood cancer. I have been spending as much time as I can visiting him and getting him out fishing. Don't know how his medical problem will work out, but the fishing is good for both of us and a great way to spend time with him.

Bill Murphy says never try to "turn" the fish unless it is going toward cover that you can see. The fish usually gets off if you do. If he is headed towards cover, he is going to wrap you up anyway, so you might as well try. You also said your drag was on the verge of being loose. Where was it when the fish struck? I also vote for the hookset as being the reason.

These guys are some of the very few that are still worth a rip in America today. Amazing bravery they show every day for a nation that has so many that care so little about what they are doing.

40' down to 6'...your lake is pretty much just exactly what you want..just walk down and catch a few out of it. Not much potential for any lunkers. Next step is it will be 2 ft deep and the gov will step in and tell you it is a wildlife sanctuary and you can't do ANYTHING to it. You need to move that dam and do some digging. If you got it back down to say 12 or 15' your fish would do better.

I don't fish for that ONE fish. If I have caught a nice fish in an area then I will work that area again. Other than that, I just fish the best I can and what happens happens.

Try a Carolina rig. I have been getting better hookups on it. Tap or a tug....sweep to the side usually does it.

You had her on for 15 minutes?? Good hook set.

NO

You go through different phases if you enjoy fishing long enough. Enjoy this phase. There will be others.

Teeth sharp--eating shad and other softer baits. Teeth dull--eating things with shells like crawdads etc. Least that is what I always understood.

I just round the weight off when I tell folks about the fish I caught. 1lb rounds off to 3 lb. 2lb rounds off to 5 lb.....and so forth..:-)