More Mississippi Pool 3 Catfish personal bests!!!

I never thought I would have such a hard time getting someone to jump in the boat to chase monster flatheads! In the last two weeks I have been present at 4 guys personal best flathead excursions. Last night a certain bass fisherman who shall remain nameless bailed on me at the last minute…and I was honored (Lucky!) to be able to jump in with Kooty who was partaking in a guide trip with Brian K of "Brian K’s Trophy Catfish Adventures" here on IDO. It didn’t take Kooty long to get into the act after Brian gave him the safety speach and the setting of the rods. Brian had Kooty on a 10 pound fish in short order and I think if the night would have ended right there, Kooty would have been happy! But he had one goal, and that was to catch a 50 pound class flathead. And the night was young. And Kooty had one of the best catfish guides on the River at his service.

As the evening progressed, Brian thought a move was in order. When he gets "That feeling" you best reel up and take him at his word. So reel up we did, and ever so delicately did we slink back up the river section we were fishing to another area that Brians "Spider Senses" told him there may be a big girl laying in wait. We slid the anchor into the water and tied off at the bow and again rigged rods and pitched them into some likely spots. It didn’t take long before the rod tips were telegraphing "The Bully Dance" that was taking place below a 4 ounce no-roll and a 10/0 Gamakatszu hook. The rod got slammed…but didn’t really take off like a bigger fish may normally would. But throphy cats are far from normal fish! Kooty retrieved the rod from the holder, releasing the clicker and engaging the spool in a fluid motion while setting the hook over his head. The point of the hook set firmly into the roof of the heavy cat’s mouth, and the "Cat Dance" was on!!! From one side of the boat to the other the "Flathead Two Step" was in progress. From time to time Kooty would be heard muttering "This fat kid is getting his butt kicked!" The fish slowly succumbed to Kooty’s prodding and came to surface boatside. At first look I pegged it at about 30 pounds…Brian at 35…When he brought it into the boat we both yelled "OVER 40!!!" When the fish was laid on the floor in the net it showed off her tremendous figure! She had girth and length that was betrayed by a head that did not match what was underneath this heavyweight! She was a big well fed girl that went 45 pounds and some change!

Taking pictures of the prize fighter and his fish were dificult at best! With arms still burning from the fight, the simple task of holding the fish for photos was quite trying! But he did and Kooty now has accomplished yet another personal best to add to his lifelist!

Now to Saturday night! Three of my kids turned down "Dear Ol’ Dad" this evening. Ben, since he caught his personal best almost 46 pounder a little over a week ago, only got 4 hours of sleep awaiting the delivery of his new puppy Axel decided he needed sleep more than the shot at another monster cat. Aaron decided he had to go to band practice with his buddies who have an up and coming rock band together. My 26 year old Matt was doing something with his girlfiend decided to pass as well. The silly bass guy from Friday night had yet another softball game to attend, so he was out as well. So I went down the list of who I know that hasn’t caught a big fish yet and Blake Kadlec came to mind. At 13 years of age Blake has chased crappie, walleye, sturgeon and cats with us, but has yet to set the hook into a true monster. So off to the River we went.

I decided with the young fellow aboard I thought I would try some new areas close to home on upper Pool 3. We launched out of Plan’s Marina and headed out. We took time to investigate some likely looking areas and marked them on the GPS for later visits. I also wanted to have a reliable trail for when it was time to go home in pitch darkness as this area was loaded with wing dams. As luck would have it, we set anchor and within minutes we had a run on a bullhead while I was fixing up a stinkbait rod for channel cats. It turned out to be a nice chunky 9.5 pound flathead! Shortly after getting it re-baited and casted back into the lair of the flatheads, we got hit again. No, make that SMASHED! This was one of those hits that make you stop breathing and pay attention! I started barking commands which I am sure came out sounding like Greek to him! "LIFT THE ROD…TURN OFF THE CLICKER…ENGAGE THE REEL!!!!" He got the rod out of the holder and set the hook while I was clearing rods as I had a hunch this was going to be a big girl. He started to get a little back on the fish and she took twice as much back! Blake finally cleared the timber, and got the fish into a nice "Safe" area next to the boat for the fight. The poor kid was shaking like a leaf! I gotta admit I was speaking a few octives higher myself! We finally got the no-roll to appear on the surface and I slid the net under the big girl! Blake gasped and said "You better bring her over the side back by you!!!" We were able to lay her over the cooler and up onto Blake’s lap for the photo, so she was well supported for the pics. During the next few hours we watched racoons, beaver and jumped each time we heard a "Click" come out of the reels. We ended the evening with four fish over 10 pounds, and one at 37! Congrats Blake!!!