Took last Friday off work to do some fishing. Took my canoe across to the far side below the dam and parked on the rocks. Fished for about an hour with no hits. Then I remembered the Yum A-rig that I bought a couple months ago try for crappie. First cast was short, just to see how it would manage in the tumbling water right below the dam. About 2 cranks and it just stopped. I said a bad word, thinking I had gotten snagged. Lifted the rod up to see how bad it was, and when I got the line tighter, I felt a little head shake. I said to myself, "hey, this is a fish." A couple more cranks on the reel handle to get more tension, and lift the rod, and he starts taking line.
I kept the rod high, and tried using my finger on the spool for more drag, and the rod just bent into a 'U.' Fought the fish for probably 15 minutes, losing line the whole time. I didn't think I could get the canoe untied and back into the water one-handed, so I hopped off the wall onto the rocks and started jogging along the rocks trying to regain some line. Went about 100 yds. till the rocks ended and the mud began. Probably 200+ yds. of line out at this time. So I just said what the heck, tightened the drag and started pumping and cranking. Then it pulled loose. Nothing broke, the wires on the A-rig were a little more bent than usual.
One of those days that I wish I had a "real boat" to fish from. I bet trolling that A-rig back and forth below the dam would have yielded some big stripes...