Neat thread!
A couple years ago, when Lake Isabella actually had enough water in it to reach the boat launch ramps, my barber and I were trolling for trout and had done well for much of the morning. He got adventurous, and decided to try a blaze-orange Flatfish for grins and jollies. I'm an indulgent boat captain, but had I known he had that BRIGHT thing in his tackle box he or it would have stayed on the dock. Naturally, that thing provoked a strike--not five minutes after it hit the water. At reel-in, the result was a 5# channel cat......my first witnessed lure-caught catfish in 50-odd years of angling. Never say "never".
Ah, Jailbirds. Mr. Stripey. 4 years ago, Marie and I were fishing the East Highline Canal outside Calipatria on a fine June afternoon. 115*, humid, not a breath of wind. We were using medium-duty freshwater skirted spool rigs, stuff suited for 2#-5# bass or trout.
Mistake.
After a half hour of heat and humidity without a bump, we were about to find the truck cab and start the A/C when I got hit. HARD. Lure was a white/sparkle Gitzit, 8# mono. That 7' Ugly Stik is one heck of a rod, it was bent double and that striper/flathead cat/Los Angeles-class submarine was making tracks most ricky-tick, with the current and peeling line mui pronto.
I tried walking, then trotting along the canal bank to keep up. I never gained a foot of line back--that fish ripped 150 yards or more of line in the minute or so I had the fish on, and I couldn't turn him if I wanted to--not enough rod or reel. The line went BINK and I was left with an almost-arbored spool and a very amused wife. I'm a pretty good stick--I've landed 37" and 42" northern pike on 5-wt. fly tackle--but this fish was way more than the tackle could manage. I would like to have seen the fish. Note to self.......saltwater bait-casters in the Colorado River canals from now on. I have Penn 350 Jigmasters--65 Long Beach--and 35W Torque on deck for those monsters now.