Personal best doubled in one night!

I had the pleasure of sharing my boat with Eric Paulson and his father, Kenneth last night. Eric’s a lurker to IDA…and we’ll have to work on him to be a registered member as he has pleanty of hunting and fishing experiance to share!

With the close to ten degree water temp drop from the weekend and temps about 71 degrees last night…I was keeping my fingers crossed for finding a good bite. That big copper moon didn’t make me feel any better either. Turns out it held low in the sky and never really brightened things up for us.

If I would count runs and misses as fish…we had one of the best nights on the water! In the end, Eric connected with the ones that counted.

This photo is Eric holding his first flathead ever. A solid 15 pounder. Somewhere between the time of the last missed fish and this hungry monster being boated, Eric’s eye grew wide and full of electricity!

We move to another location and set up…and had a run and a drop right off the bat…when along came the tell tail whack of the rod in the rod holder and the fight was on!

This thirty pounder didn’t take out drag…but I’m thinking that when Eric checks his tummy this morning, he’s going to have a black and blue spot there!

Here’s a photo of Eric and his Dad Ken, with Eric’s personal best doubleing 30 pounder!

Thanks for a great trip guys!

Great cats guys.
A good black and blue spot for a reminder that will last for a week is cool
I know I like a few raw spots on the hands for day dreaming after a good night while at work

Bret

Sounds like your really living up to the name “I Da Man”.
Good deal, I know my #30+ is out there somewhere.

Ryan and I went out last night. Ryan had one on for a bit but the Circle hook, hooked into the bullie and not the fish.

Later

Thanks, Phil. So much for my foray into circle hooks for flatheads. I got a new Reflex rod, spooled a 6500 with Big Game mono, and figured I try out some big Gamakatsu circle hooks. I think it may be time to switch back.

It was about 10pm. We didn’t have a run under our belts yet. All of the sudden, I saw the tap, then slowly, the click, click, click. I picked up the rod, switched off the clicker and started thumbing the spool. The fish was still peeling off line, and I could feel it there. So, I kept my rod tip high, clicked the reel out of free spool, and let the rod load up. It loaded up nicely, I started reeling, thinking, “Alright, the monkey is gone!” Shortly there after, I figured that either I lost it or the fish was coming at me. Then, I saw my bullie come to the surface . He had all kinds of scrapes on him, even in the area of the hook, so I know that he was plenty far in the flathead’s mouth, but the hook turned and went right back into the bullie

This monkey is getting very heavy Who wants to take him from me for a while?

Sorry to hear that, Ralph! I assume you tail hooked the bullhead when you put it on the hook? About how long did you let her run with it?

Tail hooked, yes. I’m not a believer in letting them run with it. I figure if it’s pulling out my clicker, it’s got it in it’s mouth. These things don’t have small mouths, remember.

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Tail hooked, yes. I’m not a believer in letting them run with it. I figure if it’s pulling out my clicker, it’s got it in it’s mouth. These things don’t have small mouths, remember.

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I was fishing with an old timer once and he gave me this wisdom. “The Damn things don’t have hands, set the hook”

90% of the time…that’s my thought too. If their running with it…set the hook..’cause it’s in their mouth…and if it’s in there mouth it’s getting ready to head down to the tum tum…which can give a person more gut hooked fish. I would rather loose a fish that to know that I’m going to be likely gut hooking them.

But then there’s the few times a flat will grab half the bait in it’s lips and take off flying…setting the hook then either leaves a person baitless or with a scratched bull.
This would be a time when giving them line…without letting them go into a snag is better.

Hey Brian, we going to double my personal best tonight?!

I will guarentee you that I will do better than double your personal best…at the time it takes to reel in a flattie…

You 6 pound test guru!

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I will guarentee you that I will do better than double your personal best…at the time it takes to reel in a flattie…

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You speak in riddle you forked tongued cat catcher!

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Tail hooked, yes. I’m not a believer in letting them run with it. I figure if it’s pulling out my clicker, it’s got it in it’s mouth. These things don’t have small mouths, remember.

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Yeah they have big mouths, but I think that is exactly one of the problems. They grab the bait and let it sit in their mouths, especially if they are on a binge and have a meal or two already in their gullet. Then they may just cradle your bait until they are ready. If they start feeling pressure they are libel to let the bait go or even spit it out.

Of course I am not suggesting (not that anyone in their right mind should listen to me ) anyone wait an hour or so before setting the hook either. I was just curious how long you let them run. I’m with Brian. I’d absolutely give up a monster if the only way to catch him was to gut hook it.

I always set the hook ASAP unless I have reason to believe it’s just messing around with it.
Two reasons:
1) Prevents gut-hooking
2) Better chance of keeping it out of the snag that it’s undoubtedly heading for

I never wait long to set the hook.. I think my best ratio is when I set the hook immediately.

Last night I had an exception.. My rod was sitting there in the holder with the spool tension screw as tight as it would go so the super heavy current wouldnt pull line every time the bullhead moved.. well.. I looked up at my rod tip and was watching the bullhead struggling, I turned my head away to see my beverage I was reaching for it the dark and I heard my clicker make sounds that scared off the pack of coyotes running around.

I dont think my clicker could have gone out any faster if I hooked into a tuna and hit free-spool.. that fish was flying. I decided to try to wait for a second to see if the fish would slow down.. well, MANY seconds transpired and that fish never slowed down and I noticed my spool was considerably smaller in diameter.

Needless to say, the bullhead ripping off the hook feels the same 100 yards away as it does 30 feet away when using super lines.

If that fish never slowed down, it will be somewhere near Missouri today.

How long do you let ’em run??

Gosh… who knows!

-I’ve been missing fish with a quicker hookset early in the run.
-I’ve been missing fish with a hookset way into the run.
-I watched Dave miss a fish that cleaned the line off his spool he let it run so far. It was screaming though, I’d have been scared to set into it!

All I can tell you is that when you miss 2 or 3 fish when setting the hook early, something gets into the back of your mind telling you to let them run a little longer. So you do and then you miss on those as well. Its frustrating.

On most of my “whiffs”, I can feel the fish & the load on the hookset and the hook pulls loose of the bait. I get my rig back and the flattie gets a free meal. I think they have learned a new bag of tricks.

-Setting the hook early will NOT necessarily prevent gut hooking the fish either. That big 48 I caught the other day was deep hooked and I set the hook as soon as I got it out of the rod holder. There was nothing I could do and the bait was all the way down already!

So someone please tell me what I’m doing wrong, eh?

The only thing I can think of is you need to change your avator.

Ralph,
I used circles all last season. I tightlined the whole time and did not miss many fish. Try not using your clicker. Let the fish load up and start going. Just make sure your drag is a little light and that your close to your rod. (If you get into a monster he will need to be able to peel off drag or you will lose or break your rod) This year in using the octupus hooks, I’ve had to revamp my stategy, I found that I’ve been able to get them with quick hooksets. (they havent even been able to start running) I would rather set the hook myself than let the fish do it. It was hard not to go back to circles and not use the clicker untill I finally figured out what I needed to do. (trial and error with flatheads sucks)
At least your trying differenct things. You’ll get it dialed in soon.
good luck
Larry

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Here’s a photo of Eric and his Dad Ken, with Eric’s personal best doubleing 30 pounder!

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Nice job guys!

Well I am now a full fledged member of IDA. Along with gaining information I hope that I can help others as well. I have always been a (channel) cat man. But having a flathead pull that hard with that heavy of equipment is very habbit forming. See ya on the river!!!

Eric

a.k.a. riverrunt75