Bad Night for Mile High..

This guy worked his tail off today…went fishing p2 this afternoon then hooked up with me tonight. I’m not going to go into his luck this afternoon…but he was happy his boat was floating when he came home….

We did a bit of scouting and ended up in an unlikely spot. I had Tim put his bait in the best spots. Nothing. I could tell he was getting restless…when he said let’s get the ‘ell out of here…But I said the magic words…let me have a smoke and then we’ll go. While I was enjoying the skeeters…he realize he was snagged. While he was messing around with his mono (), I pitch my bully to where he was fishing…yup…before my smoke was out I landed a fish in the high teens (best for the night). I had him take a picture (below). So, we stayed a little longer…

While we waited for the next run, we played a new game I just made up…rules are simple. Whoever has the most biting skeeters on their face without brushing them off…wins. I let Tim go first…and he won..I couldn’t do it.

I’m not sure how many runs he had…but before we left he was telling me that they were gar..which is why he couldn’t catch them

It was a great night to be on the river. Little fog coming in and black as the ace of spades.
We ended the night with 3 in the boat and atleast 6 “air strikes”…

Next time Tim!

Always remember to take the lens cover off…before taking pictures!

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Always remember to take the lens cover off…before taking pictures!

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Brian

You bring out the best in people

I forgot to mention…he did have two very good fish on…but both were lost in snags…after the second one, just for a second…I thought his rod was going in the river…

I helped matters by telling him if he were using Power Pro he would have dragged the snag to the boat

Seemed like no matter what he was doing last night, it didn’t work out. Puts Bullhead on hook…picks up rod…bullhead falls off hook….SCREAMING RUN! Sets hook…nothing….Fishes with Briank…gets grief all night about using mono…

One good thing…with some sleep…today is a new day! (and he didn’t hook himself or me!)

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..gets grief all night about using mono…

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MH,

There is absolutely nothing wrong with using mono, some of the best fisherman I know use mono exclusively like Denny Halgren, Tim Scott…..oh and the channel cat master daruoho

Jason.

Whos filing the points off of whos hooks Brian
Mile High….I thought mono was a thing of the sixties
Still sounds like you dudes had a good night and how could you have not….you were chasing cats

Power Pro?
Clickers?
Screaming Runs?
Multiple fish every trip?

Don’t you guys ever watch your rod tips?

I swear, if you guys didn’t live within spitting distance of such a great fishery and got to fish about 4 hours every 2 weeks on rivers where you might get one flathead who pulls your rod tip down 1/4 inch for maybe 10 seconds….you’d all be throwing spinner baits and practicing saying “Aw Son”.

Aw Son…that there is a nice flatty

I watch my rod tip all the time (when I’m not snagged on one rod and retying the other rod and swatting mosquitos while talking to Briank). Maybe a quarter of the flats I’ve caught this year didn’t take any line out. Usually, I fish Pool 2 which is MN inland waters, where only ONE rod is legal. You have to watch your rod tip there.

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Don’t you guys ever watch your rod tips?

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RB! I’ve been haveing such a good time with the partners that I’ve been fishing with…watching the rod tip is second for me!

I’m too busy harassing folk that use some type of “sixties” type line and others that tie outdated knots…I have a hard time seeing the boat much less the rod tip…

It is a wonderful fishery here (wonderful smallmouth too, I hear). Come on up sometime…and let the good times make your reel scream!

I’ve been up there, several times, and have had great success.

Nowdays I fear making the 3.5 hour drive just to gaze upon the cottonwood tree sign-up sheet and find out there is some Johnny-come-lately “catfisherman” anchored up in front of every snag every night, joking around with their clickers on instead of paying their dues getting skunked while learning bite detection like they should be.

Sorry RB You must of had a floater in your wheaties this morn’n

I guess that is me and bowfin “Johnny-come-lately “catfisherman” We have only been fishing cats for about 15 years However I beleive I have only visited the cotton wood 3 times this year.

CA

I know if I was closer I’d visit it once

You dudes get some nice look’n kitty’s

Can I be, Johnny-come-lately”catfishermen” also

I have been fishing Flatty’s quite some time myself

I guess I should have added a few in my post.

I was just hacking on the guys who use clickers because IMO, there is a learning process that catfisherman go through and they get to the point where they don’t use clickers anymore.

Dad gum! Ya’lls far ahed of us dum clikker folk!

Whew…I thought I was going to have to change my handle!

Black rods are tuff to see without some moon and it was really dark last night. I know I’m going to get some grief for this…but…In my walleye boat…my rod holders aren’t all in back. There’s two on the sides and my back is always to one of them. MOST of the time I can hear the “thongggggg” of a bite, but not always…

Since your post last fall about detecting strikes/clickers and talking with a few old Johnny’s, I’ve been watching for them more…now my question is: Do you set the hook as soon as you detect a strike…or wait for a run?

Holy smokes!! RB is havin a bad day! I’m gonna stay away from this little discussion as much as possible. RB is pretty close however, there is truly a progression as far as using clickers goes, I’ll be the first one to admit they are entertaining, but under close scrutiny the only thing they really provide IS entertainment. A black light, fluorescent line, and no freespool really will make you a more observant
angler. I have trained myself to substitute the POP and slow load up of the rod for my clicker fix…it’s really cool to watch without them running line out.

Jason.

My eyes were really opened when I spent some time with Denny Halgren. That guy is amazing. He would probably tell you that 75% of his flatheads never pull hard enough to even get one click out of a reel in freespool. I learned more in a few nights with him than I would have in years by myself.

How many fish are missed between the point where Angler A notices his bullhead is moving slower that it has been and picks up his rod and feels the tail pump of a flathead and when Angler B notices the fish only because of a screaming run of his clicker?

It can depend on your fishery too. i.e. A lot of guys on the Red couldn’t care less about subtle bite detection, they don’t need to, they have tons of opportunities at fish.

I am no expert, but to me, detecting the bite and hooking up with the fish is what its all about. I like to post good looking pictures as much as the next guy, but the thrill is in the first few seconds of the fight.

Watching the tip is effective… in some applications. There are times when fishing cross-current that subtle pick ups are impossible, or near impossible to detect.. not everyone fishes from the boat all the time with the lines pointed down current in slack water.

A substancial cross current will often result in a rod doubled over before a subtle bite is detectable with ding anything short of holding the line in hand… If your not on freespool with a clicker.

Sometimes I fish verticle for flatties.. no clicker involved.. it just what tecnique seems to work the best, and where..

I prefer using reflective tape (Wally World auto section – $1.29)and a headlamp to monitor my rods. I use spinning rods, and most of the time I don’t even need the headlamp – they’re white. I may jaw quite a bit during a catting outing, but my eyes are constantly looking over my rods.

To answer the “when to take them” question – now! If they’re on the end of the line, take them. My own policy anyways. Doesn’t always work perfect, but gut-hooking them is not an option I care for.

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but gut-hooking them is not an option I care for

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That thar is the best answer I’ve heard todate!

I agree. Gut hooking is not a good thing I like it when they take the bait and you can set the hook like right now, but there are still times I like to know they are on the move with the bait. This last week is a good example for me. I missed a ton of fish until I started to let them have it. The fish Wats and I boat was hooked just inside of the mouth after a good run.
I will start off again this weekend trying to get a hook set at the first sign of a bite but, if I start swinging and missing I will try to play with them a bit.
Am I just doing it all wrong I have not gut hooked a fish this year. I havn’t been able to get out as much as I like though either