Well, I'm new to the NAFC forum but I was a member years ago. I love to fish for channel cats at the Muddy Run Reservoir here in Pa.

I had just got out shortly after lunch and just like any other day, tossed two lines into the water. I like to use Charlie's Blood Bait and night crawlers there. I had baited both hooks with blood bait that day and clipped my bells to the rod tips and proceeded to go about nosing around. Mind you, I have been fishing this way for years and those bells never let me down. lol. It was going on about an hour when I decided to leave one rod in the water and bring the other in for a location change. Not even 25 minutes go by and a cat hits the bait from the rod I had just brought in. It was a nice 15lb cat. Nothing too spectacular but enough to feed me for dinner. lol. I was getting tired of the other rod just sitting there, going on almost 2hrs in the water now, and decided to bring it in and change locations. As I started reeling it in, I snagged it on an underwater obstacle (or thought I did). It wasn't until I started getting a little forceful with the line that I realized there was something tugging on the other end! I have no idea how long he was just sitting on the bottom with  my hook in his mouth but it took me a good while to bring him to shore. I weighed him in at 38lbs and to this day, I kick myself in the but for not having my camera with me! Never again! lol. I have never encountered a cat that just took the bait and sat there motionless for god knows how long. No mind you, this was during the summer so they weren't in their dormant stage. That cat made for the most satisfying dinner I have ever put in my mouth

There's a fine line between fishing and standing on the shore like an idiot

i was fishing last year under a local bridge in the ken lake area with a close friend and much like your story we each had 2 poles in the water. on this very early morning in mid summer we were just tight linning on bottom with cut bait ( shad i think) my poles had been sounding off all morning thus far catching a couple of average small catfish reall good eating size tho. well back to the story one of my friends pole had done nothing for i guess at least 1 hour and at the spot we were fishing stripes love to steal from time to time as he started to real his pole in to check his bait i have never seen any thing like it the fight was on pole bent straight at water and line running so fast back and forth that it was actually whistling at us ( like something that you see on a movie) i standing in amaze and wonderin how the world we are gonna land this fish the fish would actually get tired and i assume lay down on the bottom and no matter how hard he tried he could not bring the fish up untill it pretty well much wanted he faught with this fish for about 30 or so minutes and brought this fish really close to the bank just out of grabbing distance twice all in all he lost the fish but let me tell you it was a monster and all in all it all started with a fish that grabbed the bait and just layed silent and still on the bottom with it in his mouth

That sounds like something the happen to my brother and I. When we where around 15 and 16. We whent fishing at stonlick lake in Ohio with another friend. The lake was up and where had not been doing that good. My brother started to bring his rod in when he noticed that he had a something on it. When he got it close he yelled out me to get the net which we had left in the car. By the time I got back with the net this big cat decide he was done playing and jut took off. When he did it broke the line. To this day he blames me for not getting the net fast enough .
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I was out on a house boat on Lake Powell UT with my father and some of his friends a few years ago. One of his buddies had left his fishing rod leaned up against the rail with an anchovie used for stipers dangling in the water. We had pulled up in a cove to stay the night and consume some adult beverages. When i awoke the next morning and was taking care of all that morning buisness I looked over and seen that his rod time was twitching a bit I picked up his rod and noticed that all the line was out and the only thing showing was a bare spool so i started reeling in. after a bit the fish on the other end decided to fight back. It turned out to be a 28" carp. I thought that It was interesting that the carp had probably grabbed the bait and had been swimming around for who knows how long. If he had really decided to take off he could have easily pulled the rod overboard.

Brian

Fishing! enough said.