I turned 40 today and did not plan on going fishing. At noon my 3 year old comes into my home office and says "Daddy, can we go fishing?" My wife hears him comes into my office and tells me to go. We hit Lavon at 2:00. Thanks to Coreywms, who sold me the extra gallon of Sureshot he picked up yesterday, I got to try it out. I motor to a cove and tie off to a tree that is about 50 yards off the bank in 17 feet of water. White bass are hitting all around and there is bait everywhere. I cast out a little george hook a white and let my son reel it in. Bait up two lines with shad and two with sure shot on slip bobber. Within 15 minutes one of the sure shot bobbers gets slammed. Rod doubles over and I realize I have a monster. Cranked him in with my 5500C and old Berkley Grafight rod after about 5 hard minutes of battle. To big for the net, so had grab him by the gills with both hands. Did not have my camera or a scale. Fish was about 1 foot longer than my 48 Qt cooler, so figure he was about 36 inches long and 25-30 lbs. Biggest cat ever and no Camera. We let it go to make more little fishes!! My son high fived and laughed for about 10 minutes.

Was even more fun to hear him tell the story to his mommy when we got home.

Thanks to Tom, Corey and the rest of you guys, I caught my PB catfish with my son on my 40th b-Day.

By the way...Sureshot works!!

Happy B-day Frank. Glad to see you used the sure shot already. Now you about to make me drive down to Lavon.

When the cork went under I was thinking man this stuff works. Probably got a nice little cat with the first try. Then I pried the rod out of the holder while the fish was peeling off line and realized it was not a nice little "eater". Can't beleive I forgot my Blackberry/Camera!! Thought about keeping it, but my 3 year old says "Daddy, it is too big to fit in the cooler. We should let it go." What could I say to that...

We both gave her a pat on the head, high fived and watched her swim away...

Anyway, was not sure about Lavon or Sureshot before today. Now both are at the top of my list. I was fishing a cove on the bank just across from Brockdale park on the point.

Crazy stuff!!

Happy B-day man! Awesome story and an even better experience I'm sure! No better person to land a big cat in front of than your own son Congrats Remember you're not just taking your son fishing you're building memories

WTG

Thanks for all the advice Tom. And thanks to Corey for the Sureshot.

Tom, what would be your weight estimate on a 34-36" blue with a very fat belly and head about 10 inches wide? This fish was very healthy.

I am guessing 25-30 lbs.

Wish I had a wife that would make me go fishing.

She is a good Brazos Valley girl. Born and raised in Robetson County just like me.

I am class of 93. Gig'em!!

Happy Birthday

Great story, and one that your son will be telling for many years to come. Great B-day present too!

Congrats!!

What a great memory for you both, it being your birthday makes it that much better. WTG. Too bad about the camera but not having a photo will only make the memory that much better.