My first big catfish

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I cut my teeth on saltwater fishing it wasn’t that I didn’t like freshwater fishing. Growing up on the bay freshwater was out of my reach as a young boy. The man I grew up to next door open my eyes to freshwater fishing. He had two girls and chose me to full fill his needs for a son. My father worked two jobs due to the 1962 Shell strike he said he was never be without a job again. So our outings only happen on vacations he took. I understood the hard time my family went through the year of the strike so I didn’t hold the hour my father worked against him. He believed man did what it took to care for his family and that was one of the traits instilled in me and I thank him for that.

Well I got to spend a lot of time with my neighbor Mr. Eaton enjoy taking up on lake Houston and he had a cabin south of lake Livingston. It was a small place. There was five small lake in the area his cabin was on the largest 45 ac. We would go up on the weekends we would fish the mornings and take the girls skiing when it warmed up and we would run trot lines at night. He fished for bass and I would fish for brim and what ever I could take a hook. He had two trot lines he would set one out were he felt would produce fish and let me pick the spot for the 2nd one. The whoever got the most fish didn’t have to wash the boat. Well most of the time I was washing the boat at the end of the weekends. On one trip the first summer I finely got my spot right and it paid off. Most of the cat we would catch were in the two pound range. We would bait them up at sun down and run them a midnight and then when we went out on the morning fishing trip. On one sat. night my spot paid off big time we ran Mr. Eaton line first. We got the normal six to nine catfish. The lake had been stocked with blue cats and channel but we mainly would catch blues and mud cats. Well we got to the area of my line and hard time pulling it up is was hung up on something. My area was about 300 X200 yards of stumps and dead trees and I put my line right in the middle. Mr. Eaton and a friend of his which he name I can remember finely got the line to come loose. And we started down the line. Right off the bat Mr. Eaton was saying look like I’m going to be washing the boat. First few hooks had the bait gone then a blue about two and a half pounds. I said does that one make me the winner he said close but one of his beat it. And then said I’m still going to be washing a boat. About that time I we could hear water splashing up ahead we couldn’t see what it was but it was making a lot of noise. We could see a few small mud cat on the next few hooks Mr. Eaton said let pass these and get to what ever is making all the noise we don’t want to lose it. We worked our way down and then I got the first good look at the biggest Blue I have ever seen up close. I said it a 50 pounder which made them both smile we got to is and got it in the boat. She was the biggest and the most beautiful fish I had ever seen. We got her back to the cabin. And got her on the scales. She wasn’t 50 but 20 pounds. I was hooked on trot lines and catfish. When we got back to town I enjoyed watching Mr. Eaton washing the boat. In fact a few more time that summer he was washing the boat and he move his line over to the area mine was in and turned the tables on me. Mr. Eaton passed away a few year ago. I have and always thank him for the time he took to take me fishing, I cant see my life without those joyful time we spent together. And the picture he left in my mind he was a true sportsman in my eyes not that the was just good at fishing but that he took the time to show a young boy the true joy of the sport.