07-06-2002, 07:17 AM
A 4-foot cat should weigh about 60 - 80 pounds unless he doesn’t eat much, his head should be as big as a basketball at that length also.<br><br>If you are saying that he is shaped like a baseball bat <b>(I believe you I have seen them like that in small ponds where they don’t eat much, and weigh about 15 - 20 pounds at four foot) </b><br><br>Indeed in either case you are under gunned in your tackle.<br><br>You should be using medium to heavy tackle.<br><br>I would suggest a reel that will handle 25 lb to 30 lb line and rod to match. <b>(I prefer a good mono line for this job)</b><br><br>Your terminal should be a number 1/0 to 3/0 treble hook with <b>(my suggestion is chicken liver><but you have hooked in to him so continue using what you have been)</b> on a six to twelve inch steel leader. <b>(I suggest using a polymer knot tying your steel leader to your line instead of a trilene knot)</b><br><br></b>Set your drag at twenty pounds <b>(if you are not sure how to do this you may tie your scale next to your reel on your line with a twenty foot leader off the other end and run that to the door knob of your house or trailer ball on your truck.)</b> hold your rod at a angle 45 degrees <b>(half way between straight up and straight at knob)</b><br><br>Start walking backwards with the drag set loose and tighten it till you reach 5 pounds below your line specification. <b>(20 pound set to 15 pound)</b> this will tire the fish out faster as he tries to pull against his own weight so you wont have to fear breaking your line next time you hook up with kitty. <br><br>Try not to get to excited when you hook into him <b>(fighting him will only cause you to loose him)</b> let the cat do the fighting, your job is just to hold your ground and reel in the slack.<br><br><font color=red>As always big fish require</font color=red><b><font color=blue>” Bigfishtackle “</font color=blue></b>[cool]<br><br><br><A HREF="http://myweb.ecomplanet.com/MESS6438/" target="_new">http://myweb.ecomplanet.com/MESS6438/</A> <br>For Kids Sake <br>Recycle your old Equipment<br>Dave