We arrived at our designated flathead spot for the evening and got busy setting up for the long night. There was a hint of a storm in the distance, as thunder could be heard many miles away. We got our four rods baited up with red-ear, and after casting them into the creek, we anticipated the night's first flathead. Our wait was short, as the drag on one of Steve's spinning rods started screaming. He picked up his rod and quickly opened the bail on his reel, and at the same time was cranking his drag down tight, which had been loosened to allow a fish to run without feeling resistance. After setting the hook he realized he had a good fish, which turned out weighing 22-lbs.
About twenty minutes later, I got a hit on one of my rods, and I set the hook on what has turned out to be the biggest flathead I have ever caught. The fish put up a good fight, but I had no intentions of letting it get away, and it was no match for the heavy duty tackle I was using. We were both very excited as we were weighing the fish and it pulled my scales down to their limit of 40-lbs.
By midnight we ended up catching four more flatheads, between 15-25 lbs. We had to stop fishing because we had run out of bait. I will always wonder how many fish we could have caught that night if we had come better prepared with more bait. The moral of this story is: Always bring more bait than you think you will need.
2001 was one of the most frustrating years I've ever had while catfishing. It rained the whole month of May and up into the first week of June, which made the creeks and rivers I fished almost totally inaccessible. Fishing for pre-spawn flatheads was totally ruined and when the waters did subside, the flatheads went straight into the spawning mode. I did manage to catch one 20-lb. flathead on the 8th of June. Our best channel catfishing day occurred in late July of 2001, when my son, Steven, and I managed to take 18 channel cats, weighing up to 7-lbs. All these fish were caught on night crawlers. The fall season provided a little more action, but nothing spectacular, as the fishing remained slow throughout the year. I anticipate a better year in 2002, providing the spring rains are not too heavy, and the water level in the creeks and rivers are more stable.
Rhonda's big cat!
My Wife likes to fish for whatever is hitting, so at times it's hard for me to get her to use big baits. She knows big baits will only take big fish! One night in september of 2001, I managed to get her to use a very large bluegill for bait, and a comical episode followed. After casting out her bluegill, and waiting for over an hour with no action, Rhonda started to complain. She wanted to bait up with something smaller so she could get some hits!
I finally gave in to her complaining and removed her bluegill, and baited her up with a gob of nightcrawlers. She seemed more content in knowing that she had a better chance to catch a smaller fish. It did not take long for her to get a hit. She grabbed her rod and gave a good hard hookset, unfortunately for me her rod cracked me right in the face. My glasses went flying off, and I made a few not so pleasant comments as a big welt raised across the bridge of my nose. Once I regained my composure and located my glasses, I realized that Rhonda had hooked a good one.
The fish was pulling her into the creek! When I got to her she was holding on for dear life, and I was surprised the 20-lb test line she was using had not broke. I decreased the drag on her reel so the fish could take line with out pulling her in. Rhonda fought the fish for appx 20 minutes, with her gaining some line, and then the fish taking it back. Finally I grew tired of watching this battle and suggested that she wade into the creek, to get a better angle on the fish, which was constantly taking her down stream.
That was a big mistake, as she lost her footing and fell. I ran into the water, not to see if my wife was ok, but to try and get her rod. That was another mistake, but I will not get into that here. Anyway I managed to get her rod and handed it back to her after she regained her footing. The fight was back on, but only for a short while as the big fish got her into a snag. I never heard such swearing in my life that came from her mouth, and the more she cussed the harder I laughed. However we can both look back at that night now, and chuckle a little.
Well 2002 so far has been a carbon copy of last year, maybe worse...Way to much rain to get into my best River spots ruined the prespawn flathead fishing agin..I have had some decent days fishing for Channel cats so far, and have caught a few medium to small flatheads..I'm looking forward to August, the spawn will be over and fishing should improve, and peak in October..Stay tuned for more reports! Well it is August, and the fishing is slowly getting better...We caught a few decent Channels, and several small Flats in July, and that is about all...Good fishing to all
My Biggest Flathead ever!
Well I finally made a goal I has set for myself years ago, I caught a 50-lb Flathead on Rod and Reel, and released the fish very much alive. It happened 8-18-02.....I got to my favorite River at appx 7.pm...All the bait I had was Frozen Shad, but I felt rather confident as I was fishing a great spot I had recently found..This spot has a riffle washing in to a bend, then a back wash area with a very deep hole I baited up with an 8-inch frozen Shad, and within 3 minutes I had ahold of the biggest cat of my life! The fish fought like a typical Flat, trying to hug the bottom, but oh did this fish pull hard!..When I finally got the fish to shore, it pegged my 50-lb scales. Took a few pics and realeased this beast to spawn, and maybe thrill another angler.
2003 fishing
2003 has gotten off to a fairly good start, we had some dry weather in early may that enabled me to hit the rivers I fish. I have caught a couple of decent Flats, biggest 34-lbs, and several Channels in the 8-lb range. My son has caught a 17-lb Flat, and a few Channels, biggest 10-lbs. All of our fish have come on cut Shad, that is all I use when avalible. I have a new job this year that really limits my time on the water, working 6 and 7 day weeks. I have a few new spots I want to check out this year, most require a long walk to get into, I hope it is worth it. Hope to add some updates on the site this year, as well as many pics...Good fishing to all, and remember "catch and release"
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