No house cat was injured during the research for this article.
With that being said, boredom, cabin fever, and bad weather can bring on some ridiculous ideas. Until one ridiculous idea actually works!
Enter in one nine year old cat by the name of Abbey. While sitting in my easy chair one evening restringing a reel the fat cat of the house (no not me), started chasing the end of my line. So then I asked myself, “what does abbey think of my favorite lures?” (I am glad my wife was gone when I did this.) My lures for this excursion were: a fuzzy ball without nip, bundled feather ball with nip, feathers on a stick without nip, and plush mouse toy with nip. It was interesting to see which items peaked the curiosity of my lazy Abbey cat.
While sculling my easy chair down the stream, I cast my offerings at cover thought to hold Abbey Cats. I started my quest by pitching the fuzzy unscented ball to the coffee table. Knowing that it’s always best to start at the outside of cover and work into it, I pitched it to the outside corner. I rolled it a couple of times without a single strike. I lifted the lure from that corner and dropped it without so much as a ripple to the opposite corner. Again, I rolled it back and forth without a look.
Up ahead I could see two sofa laydowns and thought this could be a good spot to try my bundled feather ball scented with nip. The water was clear and as the bundled feather ball hit the water, there she was! I could see her shadow cast over my bait, moving in closer to investigate. “Come on, take it!”, I shouted with anticipation. She sniffed it, but warily turned against it and moved away back into the cover.
Was it my line? I was using twenty pound braided line, maybe she could see the line. I switched to eight pound mono and scaled down my bait. I downsized my presentation to the three inch nip scented plush mouse. A cold front had just come through and decided scaling down would be my best option with a slow, do nothing approach.
I moved my recliner into a better position and pitched the nip scented plush mouse deep into cover. The waiting was painfully slow and I did not know if this was going to work, until… until I saw yet another Abbey Cat approaching from behind the other sofa laydown. My heart beat raced as I watched her stalk the scented nip mouse. I raised the offering slightly off the bottom and she backed up just a bit. In panic, I instinctively lowered the lure back to the bottom and wait.
The bait rolled as she nudged the mouse with her nose, sniffing it. She turned and my heart felt as though it stopped cold in it’s tracks and I thought, “Ahhh what do I have to do to get this Abbey Cat to hit???” Without warning or provocation she pounced like a lightning bolt and my knee jerk reaction hook set stuck! The fight was on! My little Diawa spinning reel screamed as drag ripped from the spool like a runaway train. Feathering the spool, I was able to wear out this great animal. With careful coaxing and encouragement she leaned against my recliner in exhaustion where I quickly lifted her in. The great fight was over and this Abbey Cat was none the worse for wear.
I took photos of my trophy and quickly released her, watching as she proceeded to her food dish with such beauty and grace to fight again someday. So, to anyone looking for that Abbey Cat over ten pounds it is all in the presentation. If you are working your lure slowly, then slow down some more and enjoy the action.
JayPea2006
