Deb, the dogs, and I were back up at Kerr Lake on the weekend of 9-17. We did a bit of night fishing from the dock, and fished from Dad's Polar center console skiff a bit.
During the day on Saturday, we were all on a ride on the lake with Mom & Dad on their pontoon boat, and saw a large float popping up, then pulling under the water, and reappearing some distance away. We realized it was one of those float people put out to catfish with. Dad drove the boat up to the float and I would grab it, only to have it ripped away by a very powerful fish. We chased it around a bit, and I finally got hold of it sufficiently to pull it up and get to the fish. It was a HUGE catfish. We didn't pull him aboard, I was just trying to set him free...so I got some pliers, got the hook out of his mouth, and he went on his merry way. I don't know his weight, but he was longer than the width of the opening for the side access door on the pontoon, which is 30".
Later, we caught some smaller catfish, seen in the pics below. Typically, we only sport fish, so we just catch for fun and release. Here's a few pics...
