Dads And Their Boys And Their Big Fish

Being a Dad, I can totally understand the bond we have with our boys when we're in the woods or out on the water.  There's something about watching your son catch a monster fish or harvest a beautiful buck!  It's even better than doing it yourself...It's your son!  And you taught him how to do it!  Well, this past weekend was a BIG ONE for a couple of Dads and their sons!  

A couple weeks ago, Nick Anderson watched his dad Rick Anderson haul a 95 pound blue catfish in the boat from Buggs Island Reservoir.  Big fish...but 13 pounds shy of the state record.  No less, Nick considered he'd just witnessed the fishing story of his life.  Well, that all changed Saturday night for Nick ,  a North Carolina High School Football Coach.  About 8pm,  fishing from Kerr Reservoir in Virginia, he landed a MONSTER.  His 143-pound blue catfish, if verified by International Game Fish Association, will be the new all tackle World Record for a blue catfish.  "My dad caught that 95-pounder three weeks ago, and that was the biggest cat I've ever seen," said Anderson. "And I've been catfishing with my dad since I was a little kid. You gotta figure that's something you'll never see again." "When we got this thing in the boat, I sat there in shock. We knew it was bigger than dad's, and we thought maybe it could be as big as the state record. But it's just so hard to tell when they're laying there on the boat."

Then Sunday, on Father's Day, 32 year old Chad Aldridge went fishing with his Dad, Ronnie Aldridge, in the Homer Jackpot Halibut Derby in Homer, Alaska, which they managed to win. They talked a lot about it being Father's Day, but mostly, they just fished.  It was early that morning when Aldridge hooked into what he knew was a big fish. "All of the sudden my line just stopped, then I felt the head shake so I lifted up fairly hard to set the hook." Then it took off and and I thought, 'This is serious.' I knew it was big but thought it could also be a skate, a shark or even a whale." After a 45 minute battle, the 350.8 pound halibut, measuring 96 inches long was in the boat!  Aldridge said of his Dad, "It was great to have him there to watch me bring the fish up."  "He told me it was the biggest fish he had ever seen boated, and he has caught a lot of big halibut over the years."

Personally, I'll bet that even if Dad had seen a bigger fish before, you'd be hard pressed to get him to admit it...I mean, this is HIS SON'S fish and nobody tops your son...unless maybe, it's another one of your sons.