Well cat guys and cat girls, reports of smaller flats being caught are starting to surface. The first (intentionally caught!) flathead of ’06 has been caught so, now the question is:
Who is going to catch the first 30 pounder or better of ’06??
Let the games and trash-talkin’ begin! 
And to paraphrase ol’ BK, no pics=no proof 
Ummm… that would be ME! 
I’m gonna go with GrandWizard Tyler.
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Who is going to catch the first 30 pounder or better of ’06??
Trash talking? Never.
I’ll lay some odds out there although..
Myself … 50%
Brian … 40%
Sherry .. 3%
anyone else 7%
Those seem about right, but I think I’ll put Brian ahead of you slightly, Dave 
With the amount of time that you 2 put in, it just stands to reason that one of you will come up with it. Might slide Commanchero in there, too
I don’t care if I get the first one, as long as I get one, though 
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Myself … 50%
Brian … 40%
Sherry .. 3%
anyone else 7%
Dave, you spelt it wrong, it’s m-p-l-s-p-u-g , not m-y-s-e-l-f! I appreciate the vote of confidence though. 
In all honesty.. Mr Special (aka phil) has seemed to have an excessive stretch of luck this spring and should be sitting pretty high on the list. I would put Manny up in the percentages somewhere.. but his luck hasnt been shining too much lately(sorry Manny), but he is always a factor on his day’s off.
Its really hard to compete with luck.
The more power to anyone who can start putting some brutes in the boat or on shore!
Me.. I always have luck.. BAD LUCK.. but the fish gods are usually forgiving and offer me some sympathy.. unlike the rest of the world most days!
Its only a matter of time before I put the hooks into some of those big brutes.. I am pretty confident I have the 1st, if not the 1st several big flats landed in the last 5 years when I lived locally..
You better get out and catch one.. because I’ll be there soon and I’ll catch 3!
I’d like to see us all haul in at least 1 40+ fish each at some point this season. As for me, I am not sure I get out enough to give me good enough odds of hooking up a 30+ fish. But everytime I go, there is that chance. I am a pretty happy camper with anything over 10.
The way I see it, there are three factors:
1) Time spent fishing
2) Luck
3) Skill
I’ve got the skill (or at least, I fish with people who can put me where the fish are ). My luck swings from good to bad it seems, but I’ll have a lucky night sooner or later. Now it’s just a matter of spending as much time as I can fishing, and I’m going to stumble into one of them before too long.
hanson
Yes.. I remembered you too.. you made the anyone else category for catching the 1st 30+.
I’ll give it a 25% chance you will NET the 1st 30+, and same odds on being the photographer.
You are most likely to break off on the 1st 30+ of the year! 
Is it just me, or do I seem a bit more concieted than normal today? 
What did Sherry put in my coffee? I better go get another cup! 
Thanks Dave,
I really hope this luck rolls over to Flatheads also.
Mr. Special, your luck won’t roll over, I’m afraid, because you won’t have the vaunted “Thundercat” to help you Maybe you should petition Storm to make a heavier version
I would use the ThunderCat if snags weren’t an issue. It might take forever to land it, but I think she can handle it.
Later
My credentials are 1. begginers luck, 2. knowing the right people, and 3. living 2 blocks from one of the best flathead spots on the River.
Being the betting man that I am I’ll take the 7 percent group. 
I’ll take the 7% as well. Could be a good year for upsets.
Gary…I’m feeling a bit lower than the 7% group right now…BUT…it takes a fraction of a second to go from 7% to 100%. The same time it takes going from a bad night to a good or great night! How many of those did we have last year…sat around for a couple hours…or 4…leave, just to have someone text message me with a 40 lbs fish.
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1) Time spent fishing
2) Luck
3) Skill
I would like to add…
3b. Pay attention to details.
All I have going for me is 1 and 3b…the rest I could use more of!
Larry’s the sleeper…
Just when a person thinks he/she has the Ace in the hole…WHAM! Larry’s going to play the trump card….and post a 30 ten minutes before someone else.
There’s a bunch more guys out there that fly under the radar. Don’t be to quick to think they aren’t going to be contenders….
Where’s the “watch your back” graemlin?
Well, although I may have as good a chance as anyone else once I’m on the water, I haven’t been feeling especially confident lately. My luck has kinda hit the skids. My last three trips out resulted in skunks, not even so much as a channel cat! And now that my days off are here once again, this cold front has driven me indoors and into hibernation mode.
Guess I’ll take my place in the 7 percenters club
That’s not manny talkin is it.Maybe you should take austin fishing? OOPS!Then it would be a skunk….just kidding dog.. 
I get the feeling in 3 weeks we’ll all be laughing about this thread. 
Larry the sleeper…… 
Brian, you gotta use some of that sunshine to turn this weather fast.
I just hope I’m not sleeping at the switch or bait click when its time to play my trump card.
Pugs right about laughing about this in 3weeks.
But I bet there will be plenty of before that time
Just remember to pack your kleenex, oh yea and your camera just……. in….. case…..
thanks
Larry
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I would like to add…
3b. Pay attention to details.
I talk about this exact fact every time I go fishing “big fish” but it is the honest truth. The bigger and badder the fish, the more important the intricacies and fine details become. That being line, type of hook, bait, boat positioning, bait positioning. Its nuts if you ask me.
I’ve lost a good number of trophy class northern pike tip-up fishing over the last few years due to carelessness in my setup. Bad QS rigs and inattentiveness while setting up the tip-up have cost me fish.
The worst example I have was when my pa and myself spent a day fishing near Elm Pt. on Lake of the Woods a few winters ago and did not have a flag the entire day. This was from about 8am until 4:30pm or so. We were talking about leaving and I said lets give it another half hour. I went and made the round to the tip-ups and all the baits looked good. A half hour past and no flags. “Let’s go” dad yells at me. OK. I went and picked up the tip-ups and one had absolutely no weight on it at all. In fact, the 50lb braided line was snapped clean off and upon closer inspection, the line had looped around the line guide near the spool and wouldn’t let the fish run. Bummer. I kept telling dad it would take 1 flag to make our day, and attention to details cost us a potential fish of a lifetime.
Flattie fishing is the same in my opinion. Pay attention to the details. Good knots, good line, proper bait, etc. or you are wasting your time and setting yourself up for disappointment. Once again, I know.
You guys got me PUMPED! It’s almost 1 am…I have an open seat!
Let’s go!
hey bk thanks for putting me on your site.
The first 30 lb’r…..hummmm 
I would love to think it was going to be myself. Knowing the odds of that and, if I was to have to put money down, I would be betting on Matt (FlatheadWI).
I can’t wait for this weather to break and give it a shot. I’m looking forward to everyone’s pics
Good luck and go get em dudes
Bret
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Good luck and go get em dudes
Bret
And dudettes.
Wow.. I think I got everyone fired up!
I dont think there is a bullhead safe for miles.. and if they dont want to cooperate, the big sucker supply is as good as sold at the local bait shop. I can visualize a whole platoon of catmen heading out at any given time.. rain, wind, snow, opening fishing… it seems to me everyone is determined!
I have to work all night tonight.. but I dont know about today yet. I might have to go grab the bullhead stock and put on a few layers of clothes and see if I can rip one out of a hole!
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I have to work all night tonight.. but I dont know about today yet. I might have to go grab the bullhead stock and put on a few layers of clothes and see if I can rip one out of a hole!
I thought you gave up on ice fishing a couple of months ago
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