This happened in on 7-13-01. Friday the 13th. Went out to Gissberg ponds up north of Everett to catch channel cats. I caught a very nice catfish, about 19 inches or so This one would have been 6-7 pound easy. I tied him on a stringer and tied it to a root next to a bush, and rebaited the pole with chicken livers and propped it on a branch over where the stringer was tied. It was rather late when I got out, so I only planned on being out for only an hour or so. It got dark, so I started packing my stuff up to leave. I went to untie Mr. Catfish, when another big fish hit the pole. These catfish aren't subtle. They hit like a freight train. Anyway, the pole got a bite just as I was untying the last knot in the stringer. The pole hit me on the back, and did an end over end right into the water. I only had enough time to wade in and make one grab, but at that moment the fish pulled again and the pole was gone. I ran back to my car to get my flashlight out of the trunk to see if I could see the pole in the water, and tossed my sandles in the car because they were soaking wet from wading in after the pole. Shining the almost dead flashlight around in the water produced no luck, so I tried for an hour or so to snag it with another pole I had with me, also no luck. When the guy showed up to lock the gates, I headed back to my car, only to find that my keys weren't in my pocket! I found out later that I had dropped them in my mad dash back to the lake to save my gear. Disheartened, I gathered up the remaining gear, and went to collect the fish, only to find that it had swam away! I ended up walking barefoot to the Chevron station about half a mile away with all of my remaining gear, where the attendant would not let me in because I 'smelled like the lake' and waiting 3 hours for a ride home from my dad, who had to drive up from Federal Way at 1 AM. I lost two great fish and a $70 rig because everything right happened at the wrong time. If the fish had bitten one second sooner, I would have been right there in a position to grab the pole. If the fish had hit one second later, I would have had the pole in my hand. What a Friday the 13th...