Shore Fishing for Flattys

[Rick]

Well, I had the privilege of fishing with Dark30. I did catch a flatty but Kurt Paulsen and Dark30 were the real stories.

Kevin (Dark30) scouted out and got permission to fish some private shoreland along the Minnesota River. He set-up and awesome smart fire and ground grill (ask Dark30 how that works).

Anyway we got Kurt out to film this trip so Dark30 sets him up in the worst spot and wouldn't you know it he catches the second flatty less than an hour after setting up.

Here he is holding his flathead looking right at you. An awesome 31 lb + flathead. His was the second part of a double.

Dark30 had a fish on and was bringing his brute in. I don't recall the size - was it 10, 20 or 30 plus dark? I got the net and went down the bank while Kurt was filming.

The fish Kevin had on was going wherever it pleased, almost, as Kevin was slowly bringing his flatty closer to shore. Well Dark's fish decided it would try a manuever known as the Dark-Kurt tangle. You got it, Dark's fish tangled in Kurts line.

Kevin finally brought his fish close enough, around the branches he was going to remove, for me to net. I handed the fish off to Kevin and grabbed the tangled lines.

Uh Ohhhh there's a fish on Kurt's line and it feels heavy. I'm pretty sure it was hooked up but I gave a sharp tug just to make sure. Kurt scrambled over to his rod and I let Kurt get a feel of the receiving end of this top of the line predator.

Here is his 1st flatty ever and it's in a vertical presentation. Oh and Kurt is a very big man.

We were fishing where the current ran into a hole and up against a rock channel edge which also happenned to be quite a bit deeper than the upstream rock edge.

Those flattys seemed to be running that edge and coming on top of the rock flat to feed. We had runs all night long and I even caught a flathead about 5 lbs.

I will let Dark30 tell you how it all really went down and how those flattys were relating on the structure to their dinner. He can also share his the other highlights of the evening as Dark30 really went all out to make this an evening to remember.

With any luck he has a picture of his flatty and will share it here as well. Thansk so much Kevin for the awesome outing.

Here is the picture of Kurt's second fish caught just a few minutes after his first.

I will let Kurt and Kevin tell you what Kurt kept saying about another catching another flatty .

Here you go Kevin and Kurt for the rest of the story

And THANKS again Kevin for an awesome evening fishing.

[Matt Johnson]

Sounds like a great evening of fishing! I need to get out and chase one of these infamous flatheads...

[DARK30]

Your Welcome Rick..anytime! Kurt caught both the bigger ones. The one I had on when it tangled with Kurts line was maybe 15. That was weird to feel two fish on one line though!

Anyway, I'm glad Kurt got to pull in a couple nice Mudeyes! Dean and I had a couple more runs after you guys left...the last being a wake up alarm at about 2:30 am. We were both snoozing and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz goes the clicker. Its amazing how fast a guy can wake up when that happens!

The best bite was definitely just before it got dark. That rocky bottom coming up sharply out of that big eddy and joining up with the current coming around the corner seems to work. Bullheads were the bait on hand and they didn't have any trouble attracting some hungry hogs. Having a place like that to shore fish is a blessing so I will again say thanks to "Scott" for letting a guy like me do what he likes best.

Now lets hope we don't get too much rain out of this little system coming through. A little rain would be nice but no gully washers please.

[Dennis Steele]

Way to go guys!!!

It sounds like it was a very good time. Dark's smart fires are always a good time. Even better when the fish show up too!

SO how did those fish feel Kurt? Ya hooked?

[hanson]

Looks like ya'll had a great outing!

Congrats to Kurt on Flathead #1!

Looks like they were hungry during the day! Hope it makes a good show!

[katchaser]

Way to go boyz!

I made a tactical error last weekend with bait and got skunked on flathead.

Maybe I can redeem myself next weekend.

[Kurt Paulsen]

I can't thank Kevin and Rick enough for asking me to go along last Saturday. I have been hoping to catch a flat for a long time and even when I was there, I just expected to get skunked. It was amazing that not only did I not get skunked, but actually got TWO of these petty girls! The truth is, even after my first two... I was still eager for just one more.

I learned quite a bit and I think I am officially hooked... Now I just need to convince Dennis to take me out sometime so I can experience it from a RiverPro! Maybe that would be a good trip for Matt to come along...

[I Da Man]

Congrats guys!

Once cat slime is in your blood it's hard to clean it out!

[DARK30]

Your welcome Kurt! We'll head down there again if we get the chance. I made it down there again last night for a little while with a friend. We got two small ones and missed two. I'll be up fishing the Otter Tail this weekend but Saturday June 17 looks good for another late night thing. Maybe we could have a little "mini" gathering. Its a long way from a boat landing but once your there, Its a great place to pull up and pitch a tent.

[rushing]

If ya have some shore for me I am interested. Kurt I have some local info you might be interested in. Shoot me an email [email protected]

[Kurt Paulsen]

Rushing, I just sent you an e-mail.

I will have to think about that Dark... I probably have a conflict, but hey, for another 31.5 lb'er, I might be able to make something work out!