Catfishing Meet pic thread

The catfishing trip last night was a huge success! 2 monster flathead cats caught just north of SB Cove at Bartlett Lake AZ.

The first fish caught was not even 10 minutes after setting up and about a half hour before the sun even went down. The baitfish were boiling all around this cove, so our hopes were high. Here's ColtsTRD's biggest catfish ever caught (estimated just over 20 lbs):









Aww, look at the cute couple...



Next up was Specalt. His cowbell starts dancing around and he sets the hook on a "maybe 10 lb" fish. Keep in mind he's using a medium action spinning rod and 8lb test line! Extra thanks to ColtsTRD for jumping in and grabbing this beast, sacrificing his shoes in the process. Estimated weight on this fish was 40lbs based on dimensions, girth, and comparison to pics of similar flatheads this size:


8lb test! Took almost a full half hour to horse this dog until it was tired enough to land. Bryan's line was destroyed after this fight.


Good job Scott helping grab this fish out of the lake.





Full belly.


This flathead was in beautiful condition. Good weight and color, and it had no scarring or damage. An old smart fish.





Exactly 40" length



9" head width with closed gills. With gills open, the head was over 10.5" wide


This is literally all of the tissue that was holding the hook!


Back in the water to be released


Reviving before release



The send-off


Congratulations to Bryan on his new lifetime largest fish record! You know it's a big freshwater fish when your previous record was a saltwater species.

 

Great time and even better fish! Couldnt have asked for a better night!!!

Oh and Adam...that was the biggest Flat Head I've ever caught...not biggest catfish period lol

 

Ok, well I used to have a SeaDoo and used to ride all these lakes around here. Had I known that was in there lurking around by my feet I don't think I would have been riding in these lakes.

 

Great looking fish guys. Grats!

 

My bad

 

That was a great time.

I have been on a high all weekend.

Thanks Adam and Scott

 

Nice fish.....

 

reminds me of that show river monsters on animal planet.
nice catches!

 

Glad you had a blast bud!!!

Still can't get over that damn fish

 

Wow some big muthafuckin' fish!

 

My pleasure. Glad you guys both got good fish and the trip went without issues. My turn next time!

 

You did get 1, in the crawdad trap.

My dad said he would join us for the next round. After I showed him the pic's he regretted not coming with us.

 

We were just north of SB cove, right on the other side of the concrete ramp they have there. Scott found us, but he came in the daytime. We were flashing lights and trying to catch the attention of everyone that came by, but you guys never came down the one trail. We were still at SB Cove, but just not parked in the parking lot because we had a way to back right up to the lake only 500 yards up the road.

Granted, we weren't parked in the exact spot that was on the map, just right next to it. That's my fault because I didn't want to haul a truckload of gear 500 feet down to the water. The spot we were in had plenty of space for us to back our trucks right to the water and spread out.

Next time we post up, we'll be where we say we will be or we'll leave a sign of some sort. We didn't know you guys were going to be there so late or I would have even driven up the road and grabbed you.

With even minimal phone service, I would have updated the OP from my phone or we would have called/texted you guys. Again, sorry about the mix-up.

 

I was thinking about rigging up some sort of flag and pole that I can lift up above my truck and put a light on it see if I can get some thing 10-15 feet above my truck. I just need to find a spotlight that is self powered to light the flag at night. I might work on that in the next few days, I think I can make a mount to attach to the roof rack. I'm still not sure this would have been seen from the road.

 

We're going to the exact same spot we were last weekend, so I'll post up a map to that once we figure out what night we're going back.

 

I think i'm gonna head out there again Thursday night. Not exactly sure as that's a few days from now and something could come up but i'd like to....

 

I don't know how you didn't see us....we were the only folks on the shore in that area! 3 big Tacomas and 4 lanterns

We'll get it right next time



If you were to look in the 3 o'clock direction from this picture, you'd see the parking lot where we were originally gonna park. Not sure how you didn't see us Connor.

 

Man, I'd like to join but would have a tough time swinging it. I'd have to either bring all my crap to work or I'd have to leave work early. Plus I know myself and I'd be too tempted to stay out all night and then I'd ditch work.

I'd be out there every night if I could, especially when the bait is free and I already have the gear. Gas is the only expense really.