Anyone who has spent a good deal of time catfishing or targeting big fish in general knows that it's all about peaks and valleys. You have good nights and then there are not so good nights. Let's face it - not so good nights happen a lot more than we would like. That's just the way it goes sometimes, targeting big fish.
Every once in a while, you have one of those magical nights. If you've fished long enough, you've probably experienced one of these trips when things just fall into place. You make an errant cast, it results in the best fish of the night. Every bite is aggressive and results in a hook-up. You try a new spot and it pays off on the first cast. It's trips like this that make it all worth it...unforgettable nights that keep you coming back for more!
There is no substitute for time on the water. You devoted time to finding the best spots, catching the best baits, locating the biggest fish...you're waiting for an eventual payoff (hopefully). That payoff is fighting and landing a new "personal best". Catching your first flathead of the year (FFOTY) before everyone else. Multiple fish nights. Bragging rights. I was lucky enough to experience just such a night recently.
Before I sold my other boat, I was feeling pretty confident having made several trips in a row with a flathead in the boat. It was a good streak. I even caught a personal best flathead within about a week of boating a 36" sand shark in the Florida keys. I was thinking "I got this fishing thing almost figured out!" Not so much, as demonstrated by a few fishless outings last summer. Much more than channel catfishing, successfully targeting flathead catfish requires attention to detail. Catching the best baits. Scouting the river in the spring to find the best spots to fish come summertime. As others have said many times, you really have to be willing to catch no fish when you're targeting big fish.
The week leading up to that Friday night, I wasn't even planning to fish. I had just gotten back from vacation and we had a busy weekend planned. Then I started thinking about just catching a few baits to visit an old bank fishing spot. That day I decided to go "all in" and catch enough baits for a few hours of fishing some favorite spots by boat instead. Spots that had proven themselves over time. Confidence is such a key commodity when it comes to catfishing. You may have located flatheads at many places along the river, but there's always those special spots you have an extra degree of confidence in. Producing fish year after year, that's how a spot proves its worth over time. My game plan was to fish a few of these places and hopefully get multiple flatheads in the boat for the first time this season.
It was such a beautiful night when I launched the boat around 8:20 p.m. There was just enough breeze to keep the mosquitoes away, at least early on. My strategy was to fish a couple spots early then finish up late where I caught my personal best flathead a few years back. On the way up the river, I noticed it was almost dusk already. And no one was anchored in a favorite spot. I made a snap decision to just anchor up and see what happens. I could always come back later on.
I cast a few baits out. A couple
bluegills and one large creek chub. The creek chub was the third bait out. I get everything situated in the boat and start drinking some water and tying up another rig. Then I get a big THUNK on the creek chub rod. It starts to load up slowly and deliberately. Before I know it, I'm reeling down to set the hook on a flathead catfish. And the fight is on. Several times, I'm making progress and the fish surges nearly ripping the rod out of my hands. Serious stuff. Flathead, for sure. Eventually, I tire the fish enough to reach down and get a solid grip to hoist it in the boat. Holy cow. WOOT!!!
I get out some measuring
tape and the fish is nearly 38" long, about 37x22. Definitely a new personal best. I got a few pictures and cracked open a celebratory brew to toast my achievement...with the knowledge that any pressure I was feeling was gone. By any measure, the
evening will be a success.
My line was a little tore up, so I retied my hook and re-baited. The I cast out in
the same general area. Then I rigged up a fourth rod. And cast another bait
out to the side. And waited. It didn't take too long and I had another rod loading up under
the weight of a flathead catfish making off with his prize. And another. And
another. At some point along the way, a nice fish broke me off in a snag. It
happens. That's catfiishing for you.
I'm boating a nice small flathead, don't remember which one. As I'm taking a few
pictures, another
road starts to load up. I put the fish down and get ready and set the hook into a meaty 32" flathead catfish. The fight is on and I eventually bring it into the boat and start taking some more pictures. Another first - flathead double! My best night ever was four fish and I still have more baits left...and I'm still on my first anchor. So I cast another bait. Surely, I can make it to five.
Eventually, another rod goes down and I boat my fifth flathead. I've only
been fishing maybe two hours at this point. And I STILL have a few baits
left. I throw another fresh bait out and at this point I'm fishing baits spread around this spot just waiting for one more to go down. And one bait seems extra
nervous bouncing the rod repeatedly every minute or so. I'm sure it's going to
go. I check my other baits and might have reeled one in that was snagged
up. And I'm waiting...
And then it happens. Not the rod I predicted, but
another one off to the side takes a hit. And starts going down. And I reel down on a small flathead and hooked up with number six. And it's hung up. I holster the rod, as I did with another fish earlier in the night that came free and was eventually boated, waiting for the fish to come free. After a few minutes with no luck, I check. I can feel the fish is still on there, so I let out all the anchor rope. I use the rod to pull myself over to where the fish is hung up and I find it wrapped up in some other angler's line. Like a roast wrapped by the butcher. Someone's braided line that had gotten tied up in the snag I was casting to. Of course. (I'm not the only one fishing here). I get the fish in the boat for a few last pictures and another short video. SIX.
At that point, I decided it was a good time to head home, having sufficiently raised the bar for myself in the future. In terms of numbers, my "six pack of flatheads" with two over thirty inches seems like a hard night to beat. There is still room to improve on that personal best though, as I'm still looking for my first thirty-pounder. Maybe even twenty-five. Who am I kidding? I might NEVER have another six flathead trip. But this one night, out on the Fox river...
(note: the blood all over my shirt isn't from the fish...it's from my chewed up fingers. As always, I catch and release all flathead catfish.)
Every once in a while, you have one of those magical nights. If you've fished long enough, you've probably experienced one of these trips when things just fall into place. You make an errant cast, it results in the best fish of the night. Every bite is aggressive and results in a hook-up. You try a new spot and it pays off on the first cast. It's trips like this that make it all worth it...unforgettable nights that keep you coming back for more!There is no substitute for time on the water. You devoted time to finding the best spots, catching the best baits, locating the biggest fish...you're waiting for an eventual payoff (hopefully). That payoff is fighting and landing a new "personal best". Catching your first flathead of the year (FFOTY) before everyone else. Multiple fish nights. Bragging rights. I was lucky enough to experience just such a night recently.
Before I sold my other boat, I was feeling pretty confident having made several trips in a row with a flathead in the boat. It was a good streak. I even caught a personal best flathead within about a week of boating a 36" sand shark in the Florida keys. I was thinking "I got this fishing thing almost figured out!" Not so much, as demonstrated by a few fishless outings last summer. Much more than channel catfishing, successfully targeting flathead catfish requires attention to detail. Catching the best baits. Scouting the river in the spring to find the best spots to fish come summertime. As others have said many times, you really have to be willing to catch no fish when you're targeting big fish. The week leading up to that Friday night, I wasn't even planning to fish. I had just gotten back from vacation and we had a busy weekend planned. Then I started thinking about just catching a few baits to visit an old bank fishing spot. That day I decided to go "all in" and catch enough baits for a few hours of fishing some favorite spots by boat instead. Spots that had proven themselves over time. Confidence is such a key commodity when it comes to catfishing. You may have located flatheads at many places along the river, but there's always those special spots you have an extra degree of confidence in. Producing fish year after year, that's how a spot proves its worth over time. My game plan was to fish a few of these places and hopefully get multiple flatheads in the boat for the first time this season.
bluegills and one large creek chub. The creek chub was the third bait out. I get everything situated in the boat and start drinking some water and tying up another rig. Then I get a big THUNK on the creek chub rod. It starts to load up slowly and deliberately. Before I know it, I'm reeling down to set the hook on a flathead catfish. And the fight is on. Several times, I'm making progress and the fish surges nearly ripping the rod out of my hands. Serious stuff. Flathead, for sure. Eventually, I tire the fish enough to reach down and get a solid grip to hoist it in the boat. Holy cow. WOOT!!!
road starts to load up. I put the fish down and get ready and set the hook into a meaty 32" flathead catfish. The fight is on and I eventually bring it into the boat and start taking some more pictures. Another first - flathead double! My best night ever was four fish and I still have more baits left...and I'm still on my first anchor. So I cast another bait. Surely, I can make it to five.
another one off to the side takes a hit. And starts going down. And I reel down on a small flathead and hooked up with number six. And it's hung up. I holster the rod, as I did with another fish earlier in the night that came free and was eventually boated, waiting for the fish to come free. After a few minutes with no luck, I check. I can feel the fish is still on there, so I let out all the anchor rope. I use the rod to pull myself over to where the fish is hung up and I find it wrapped up in some other angler's line. Like a roast wrapped by the butcher. Someone's braided line that had gotten tied up in the snag I was casting to. Of course. (I'm not the only one fishing here). I get the fish in the boat for a few last pictures and another short video. SIX.
At that point, I decided it was a good time to head home, having sufficiently raised the bar for myself in the future. In terms of numbers, my "six pack of flatheads" with two over thirty inches seems like a hard night to beat. There is still room to improve on that personal best though, as I'm still looking for my first thirty-pounder. Maybe even twenty-five. Who am I kidding? I might NEVER have another six flathead trip. But this one night, out on the Fox river...
(note: the blood all over my shirt isn't from the fish...it's from my chewed up fingers. As always, I catch and release all flathead catfish.)
