Not a bass, but...

[sacid]

Hi guys,

Today I was out fishing for the first time this year. The weather was perfect for fishing. Warm but not hot. Sunny and cloudy together, a bit of wind and waves on the water, dirty water and high water, just perfect.

I tried the river Neckar today and went fishless for hours. I was out with my perch combo, a ValleyHill BuzzTricks Packer rod (3/16 to 5/8 oz) with a Shimano Scorpion XT 1001 which I tuned with a shallow spool that has a magnetic cast control  (original has pins).

So I tried a lot of rubber. Texas rigged shads, worms, craws. Jig heads with the same baits even. Nothing worked. Not one bite, not even the annoying gobies nibbled on my rubber.

I decided to give the sebile flatt shad a try then and bam...first cast. I thought I got hung up on something and went mad already. then the rod started jerking and the brake gave in and gave line. This was when I realized there's something big on the other end. I prayed for it to not be a pike cuz I had no wire leader on. But then I saw the tail and knew a Wels catfish took the lure. It was quite a long fight before I could finally invite it for a photo session. mind you, that rod, reel and line combo is so not made to fight such big fish.

Had the fish fought any longer I swear my harm had fallen off.

What I took out of the river was so not expected.

My first Wels on artificial bait. My first fish this year and my first Wels bigger than one meter.

I proudly present to you my 108cm long catch

[Smallie_Stalker]

Very nice fish! 

Congratulations on your first catch of the year my friend, and thank you so much for sharing it with us.

[DonM]

Nice fish!  Bet that was fun on the small rig.
I caught a huge grinnell about that size last week.  At least you can EAT the catfish. 

[sacid]

I could eat it. Catfish is very delicious actually. But I released it again. Let him grow

[Lee Smith]

NICE   

[Pferox]

Very nice fish, and great job on bringing him to the bank!   

[analfisherman]

WOW!

That had to make your day! 

Sometimes the 'surprises' are the BEST.

Thanks for sharing!

[BassmanRudy]

Wow that's a big-un!! :-) have watched the river monsters guy catch wels catfish all over Europe and they do tend to eat whatever they come across!
Don- I'd be scared of a grinnel if it was that big!!

[sacid]

I'd trade the Wels for some bass any time.

Funny enough that all European bass come from a German who imported them to Germany back in the 18hundredsomething. In Germany they didn't reproduce as they were from the southern US and didn't like the cold water here. However they reproduced fine in the other European countries.

[sacid]

I caught a huge grinnell about that size last week.

What's a grinnell?

[Smallie_Stalker]

I caught a huge grinnell about that size last week.

What's a grinnell?

A grinnell is just a frownnell turned upside downell! 

Just Kidding.

Some other names for grinnell are bowfin, mudfish, mud pike, and dogfish. Maybe you are more familiar with one of these? If not try an internet search as  I am sure lots of pictures must  exist. 

[Donald Garner]

Congrats on the catch    Tks for sharing the picture with us also.

[coldfront]

I could eat it. Catfish is very delicious actually. But I released it again. Let him grow

they do grow 'a bit' bigger...

[sacid]

I caught a huge grinnell about that size last week.

What's a grinnell?

A grinnell is just a frownnell turned upside downell! 

Just Kidding.

Some other names for grinnell are bowfin, mudfish, mud pike, and dogfish. Maybe you are more familiar with one of these? If not try an internet search as  I am sure lots of pictures must  exist. 

Got it on Wikipedia as bowfin. Thanks.
But a bowfin with the size of my wels is a record fish. Did you report the catch to igfa?

[sacid]

I could eat it. Catfish is very delicious actually. But I released it again. Let him grow

they do grow 'a bit' bigger...

'A bit' is good. Fish of 2.5 tines the size of my catch are quite common here. Check youtube for a video called something like "wels angeln ist nichts für weicheier" (wels fishing isn't for softies). That video is awesome in showing the fight of a 2.5 times size fish

[DocIrv]

That must have been one epic fish battle.

[Lipripper]

Great looking Baby Wels as you know them things get real BIG and are fun to catch.

[DonM]

I caught a huge grinnell about that size last week.

What's a grinnell?

A grinnell is just a frownnell turned upside downell! 

Just Kidding.

Some other names for grinnell are bowfin, mudfish, mud pike, and dogfish. Maybe you are more familiar with one of these? If not try an internet search as  I am sure lots of pictures must  exist. 

Got it on Wikipedia as bowfin. Thanks.
But a bowfin with the size of my wels is a record fish. Did you report the catch to igfa?

It wasn't as big as the Wels.  I'm going to estimate it was over 10 pounds though, and that is not an unusually big one around here.  I knocked it in the head with a crowbar so I could retrieve my hook.  Thought it was dead, but then it swam off!

[big g]

Great looking fish.  It must have put up a great battle.

[Mike Cork]

Wow what a fish I'd catch that all day long, I can only imagine the fight it gave you.

Congratulations and thanks for sharing

[coldfront]

It wasn't as big as the Wels.  I'm going to estimate it was over 10 pounds though, and that is not an unusually big one around here.  I knocked it in the head with a crowbar so I could retrieve my hook.  Thought it was dead, but then it swam off!

lots of great conversation on this.  yep, some of those Wels grow up to over 10 feet long?  just amazing.

and bowfin?  great predators, nasty attitude (the kind of things we prize in other species...like golden dorado, tiger fish, pike, muskie)