First day of deer season...

We went to the lake. Game wardens all in the woods on the first day of deer season, as if there was any need to keep an eye on law abiding citizens like me and Cathy anyway and the fishing was good. Caught 12 cats, a mix of channels and blues in just a couple of hours yesterday afternoon.

While tied up fishing I saw this guy come swimming out from the bank, looked kind of funny, sitting all low in the water. Looked kind of strange, I pointed out he was not swimming right when I first saw him. Cathy thought maybe he was just showing off his catch as fishermen are wont to do.

As he got closer it was apparent he was in distress. We pursued in the boat. He dove about 4 times, staying under water 20-30 seconds each time, but then he got too tired and we were able to net him.

Next is a shot of his catch. He was not really hung by the fins too bad. Cathy thinks the catfish had a bite out of him that was holding him up. Maybe just greedy and refused to spit him out. The catfish was dead, but not too long, rigor mortis had not yet set in. Not sure what kind of bird, help me out experts, my guess is some type of cormorant or an anihinga. He was easily freed and took off acting like we never had met.

Our catfish were all bigger than this one and they are swimming in our bellies with no problems.