While fishing below the Truman Dam on the Osage Arm of Lake of the Ozarks, I had one line in the water specifically for catfish. I wasn't fishing with any special bait. I simply placed a medium sized minnow on the line and sent it to the bottom of the lake.
After half-an-hour or so I noticed the familiar sign of a fish on the end of the line as my pole began dancing about. I knew I had one, but as I began to reel in the line there seemed to be no resistance. "I guess I missed it" I told my wife. However, as I continued reeling in the empty hook, a fight broke out that would end in the biggest catch of my life so far (I'd love to think there may be more giants like this one at some point).
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| The "first glance" at a big spoonbill |
The above picture shows the spoonbill as it first reached the surface and decided to begin swimming away from me.
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| Almost have it landed |
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| "The Big One" |
In the picture above I had the spoonbill almost all the way in to the dock.
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| Right up to the dock |
The final picture shows this large spoonbill just before I released it.
The spoonbill was scarred and its "bill" was broken. It seemed to have had a hard life. I'm sure it had been snagged a time or two in the past and I felt as though I should release it without removing it from the water. I carefully set the giant free without adding to its timeline of scars leaving it to continue swimming somewhere below the Truman Dam in Lake of the Ozarks waiting for the next person to come along and surprisingly catch the biggest fish of their life.
- Any day in the outdoors is a good day
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