swam into Giant Flathead catfish in local lake

[popolarbear]

Ive read some great stories on this forum that have entertained me, so here is one I will share for your enjoyment...
today i cannot sleep as all i have is dreams of what i saw today. i went out on a small local shore dive expecting the same ordinary mix of sunnies occasional jig stuck to a rock, largemouth, perhaps a lecture or question from a local about diving etc. swimming along the edge of the weedline i found a small pile of rocks with what looked like a hovering log. I had just decided not to bring my camera that i have carried all summer as i figured i wouldn't see any interesting fish(the main reason I'm in the water to begin with!).  ... as i focused on the big log, to my horror and delight it turned and faced me! it was a monster flathead catfish! jet black with slight olive/brown blotchy pattern on sides. looked in perfect health with no scars i could see. my first thought was that F**K  ..I just left my camera. then i thought perhaps i can grab it. as Ive done this before with holed up flatties, but not this big. then the fish turned and swam off. if i had to guess it was approaching 4ft long. Ive caught and handled enough of these to know it was a big one. i don't for sure know how big as i was in the water. but i bet if i had it out of the water it would be at least 40-50lbs if not much bigger. as at this size they increase in weight quickly per inch. for the record the fish was suspended over a rock pile in 10ft of water. because it was black(and not typical light brownish) i think this fish had tanned itself and was suspending much of the summer. also this lake has no conection to the river so someone must have planted it. actualy its funny as there have been afew odd fish in this small inland lake.

[arcFlash]

That's awesome and sad. Do you think its going to return so you can take a pic?

Terry and I jumped Tonka in our street clothes this weekend. Our dry suits were too hot and we had nothing else so in we went in our 'skins'. Funny thing, Terry found a like new anchor with chain. We exchanged congratulations and I hooked it up to to the bag. It was about a foot off the bottom when Terry points to some writing on the anchor. "#335" and it hit me like a wrecking ball, "CRAP! THAT'S OUR ANCHOR!" I quickly dump it and we exchange a huge laugh (uncontrollable laughter in a regulator is one of the small joys in life). Terry knew it from the start, was messing with me and before he could tell me, I had it hooked to travel. So the joke is on me for hooking our own anchor and Terry for underestimating my 'rapid lift' skills.  ;D

[scubafreek864]

That would have been great to see on video.. LMAO!


How was the vis?

[Hydro]

nice! better than my day of replacing a heater core for 8 hours on a friend's passat 

[arcFlash]

Wazata Bay, below 35 is ink. Light is almost useless. Undivable.

We moved to a protected (from traffic) bay and jumped the near shore region out to 20 feet. Sunlight allowed ~5 feet but it's bright and thin weed over mixed sand & gravel so it was really fun in skins, cool, 39 minutes. Found 2 anchors not including ours.

[popolarbear]

WOW!

thats funny. two anchors i assume. or did you grab on for a ride?
my fish wasn't in tonka. but there have been flatties caught in tonka. the pro bass guys use baby flatheads for tournament fishing. as they are dynamite bait(illeagle). no idea were they get them.there is a banjo catfish that is uncommon and sold in the bait industry. the two species are somewhat similar. Ive never seen either for offered for sale, but I have friends that have...as to my cat ive been back with my cammera and nothing. water temp is droping too fast now. fish will go dormant soon.

you guys beat me to that spot. Ive been wanting to dive there for a while. had you not gone last weekend, you'd be swimming in devirginized waters.  still will dive it as am really curious about it. has muskies if your closer to the boat traffic/ deeper waters. also its a big structure that goes in both directions.

back in the grays bay near libs lake water clarity was approaching 10ft!(not much there but largemouth). the whole bay is weeds so what little deeper water exists is highly filtered.

[Terry]

WOW!


                      Hey Popo!
                        I started numbering them years ago, least the ones that I liked and planned on using/keeping/selling but it got too tough as to when people asked where they were from. So I started to number them with my dive log number, that # "335"  is from Serpent Lake, up in Crosby brought up on July 12 1988, my 335th dive, sure not the 335th anchor I've found,