Sad Story

This morning I was tossing and turning around 4 am so I got up and went to a
park near my home to get a line wet. I got there and all rigged up around 5
am . Either way I threw on a green popper and thought i'd see if he lunker
bass really do come out at night(or when dark) I tossed it along side some
sort of concrete structure for drainage and I could barely see a large swirl
where I thought my popper was sitting. I lifted the rod up a tad and sure
enough there was tension on the line, allot of it. My poor 6wt was doubled
over...I swear the tip was dang near parallel with the mid section of the
rod. I fought this fish for probably 10-15 minutes...he kept making short
runs. I thought I had Orca the killer bass for sure. he was still pulling
pretty hard, so I held on with one hand and got my camera ready with the
other so I could do a quick photo and toss him back in the water. I finally
got him close to the bank and to my dismay it was a huge catfish that took my
popper. I honesty can't guestimate his size, but he was probably the biggest
fish I ever had on.

Well here comes the sad part. I had him at the bank which was about 6 inches
high, and I knew the bottom of the pond was muck, so being the stupid idiot I
am, I tried to horse him onto the bank by the leader...i'm sure you can guess
what happened.....early the other day I added some tippet..and guess where my
line snapped....right at the damn knot!...

My wife was so mad at me...I called her at 530am dang near crying cause I
lost the biggest fish I ever caught(even if he was a catfish). Now this leads
me to two questions...

What knot do you use to tie on your tippet?

Has anyone else caught a cat on a popper? I've caught on woolybuggers before,
even on purpose but I never thought I would get a surface strike from one.

Tim Apple

ps Big Dale, you prolly know the park, it's right off bethany in Allen