Big Mac

Every year about this time I think about the big one that DIDN'T get away – the 25 lb. flathead catfish I named Big Mac.

I know there are bigger fish out there. Shows on cable constantly make Big Mac seem like a guppy. So be it. As any fisherman – or fisherwoman? – knows it's the story about the fish that lasts forever so Big Mac lives on, again, as I recap that great angling event several years ago.

Why Big Mac? This was the year Mark McGuire hit his record* number of home runs in a single season (yes, I asterisked record). McGuire's jersey was 25. The stars aligned and so it was named.

To set the stage, I was living in Kearney, Nebraska, at the time – over 10 years ago. Wow, didn't realize it had been that long. I worked right next door to Cabela's and often stared at the fish in their huge aquarium. Fishing in Kearney was great so I frequented Cabela's as necessary to replace line and try different tackle. Well, the best place to fish in Kearney for me and my son was right behind the Ramada Inn.

One day, we set up for a day at our spot. I threw my line in, turned around to get my pole holder and next thing I knew, my pole was heading for the water. I grabbed the pole and my 12 lb test snapped like it was nothing. Whoa! up to that point, a 9 lb fish was the largest I'd ever caught. What was in this sand pit lake?

Next time at Cabela's, I purchased some 25 lb test line. I was going to get whatever that was.

In a separate fishing excursion, I was fishing a spillway and tried to lift a bass up the wall but ending up breaking my pole. Not the brightest thing I've done but it is still several steps smarter than hooking one's self so I shrugged it off.

Who knows why but I saw an antique bait casting reel at a garage sale and bought it to put on the broken stick of a pole that I had left. Waste not, want not. No, that sounds too intelligent. How about "You know if you're a redneck if ..." That's better.

Of course, I put the 25 lb test on the antique bait casting reel on a broken pole. Why wouldn't you? After all, the reel had no drag so I needed heavy line.

Fast forward to visiting my parents who live on a lake. I take my Frankenstein set up just to get a laugh from everyone, and believe me, I took a lot of heat for the 25 lb test line. At 11 pm, I throw out some line – literally, with my son holding the pole, I walked off 30 feet of line then threw out the bait. Laid the pole in the back of my dad's boat on shore and went to bed.

The next morning I get up and look out the window. Even with sleep still in my eyes I could see the piano wire I had on my pole was taunt. I became instantly alert, awake and eager to see what was on the end of this contraption.

I walk up to the boat, trying to absorb what I am seeing. The broken pole is pointing almost parallel to the water, with line shooting straight out from it as far as you can see, never reaching the water before it disappears from sight. Whoa! The only reason the pole is not IN the water is because the reel is stuck on the lip of the side of the boat. Cool!

Grabbing the rod and reel, I crank the handle. No sign of life on the other end. I figured the fish wrapped around a log or something. Dang. A few yards from shore, the "log" came to life and pulled on the line so strongly that the pole was cracking from the tension. With no drag on the line, I had to unreel as fast as I could so the reel wouldn't come off the pole. Then reeled it in again. Let it out again. Reeled it in. This went on for half an hour. Finally, the fish was too tired and came to the surface (catfish hate the surface). A big swirl in the water gave it away. Half a second later, another swirl over three feet away. What the ... ? No way! This was a big one.

Without a net and nobody else awake to witness the event, I land a flathead that was almost three times heavier than the biggest fish I'd ever caught before. Measuring 42 1/2 inches long, it was the most exhilarating catch in my life. Finally, witnesses poured out of the house and we all gawked at this formidable thing on shore.

I put it on a stringer, called Cabela's, and asked if they wanted a 25 lb catfish for their aquarium. Sure!

My dad let me have a large container and off we went. I chuckled to myself thinking of scenarios of getting stopped by a police officer "Let me see what's in the container...". But, alas, no police stoppage.

We arrive at Cabela's and I feel like a champion fisherman – can't wait to tell the guys at work that the huge catfish in the tank is MINE. Well, this wasn't the first fish Cabela's ever saw ... they knew it had to be quarantined for a week to make sure it was healthy enough to put in the tank. A few days later, I got the sad news that Big Mac had died of a fungus. So close!

I've caught bigger fish since then but they were nowhere near as exciting as that first 20+ pounder. Once you catch a fish that takes almost an hour to reel in, you really want to experience it again. A lot of things in life are like that – just cool and awesome and very infrequent. They laughed at my thick line when I arrived that day, but not after Big Mac. I had the vision to catch a fish bigger than they could imagine and took the steps to achieve it.

Have a vision to do something extraordinary with your life and see if you can pull it off–even if those around you don't "get it" and scoff. If you fail, keep trying. Make special things happen with your life rather than watching other people do them on TV. Start small and keep reaching for the next brass ring.

story is ©2009, Kurt Holdorf photo is not actual, but looks exactly like Big Mac