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I was doing a little nightime freshwater bottom fishing from a canoe down in Peachtree City, Georgia on Lake Kedron landing 1/2 to 3lb catfish left and right on unpeeled raw shrimp. It was about 2 am, and I was out with my teenage cousin. It was midsummer so the water was about about 15 - 20 degrees warmer than the still night time air, so you can imagine the steam wafting off the surface, very eery. All of a sudden, my cousins rod doubles over hard!!! The run, was nothing like that of a bluefish or bonito or even a hooked channel cat, it was more like a keg of Heineken down a sloped drive way. We were only using 10lb line test so it was good 10 to 15 minutes (An eternity in the Freshwater fishing world) before what we thought was a huge catfish began to tire. As it neared the boat, I reached out to grab the line to haul the fish aboard, and out of the muddy water comes the biggest F****** Alligator Snapping Turtle I have ever seen! It had to be at 20lbs; the circumference of an office chair cushion. Its mouth, gaping wide, could have easily engulfed a softball. We were so startled we almost tipped the canoe. Needless to say we hastily cut the line and immediately went home. Breakfast was great next morning considering we brought home a nice bucket full of catfish.
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