a new pesonal best!!

[aanderud]

Was out last night, tried a new spot first (new to me anyway, every spot on the river's been tried by someone ) Within 10 minutes I had a 24 inch flatty. Not bad, he was super aggressive and hit a large "7" (nine point five?) inch bullhead. Any night with any flatty biting is always a good night, so having one in the boat already definitely made my night.

Well, 6 hours later it's 1:00 in the morning and that's the only bite I've had. I had what may have been a run in between the 7:00 fish and now, but it could have been debris or whatever too, because when I picked it up there was nothing there. So I moved to a different spot where I'd actually seen fish in the middle of the night before.

At 1:15 I had a super-aggressive run, tearing line off the reel almost faster than the clicker would let it go. Before I could set a hook he was gone. Reeled up a crushed bullhead. Well this put me in a great mood. Since I was planning an all nighter, it was good to get some adrenaline going to keep me awake.

I was frustrated that the fish let that last one go. I decided to downsize. My okuma reel had a lighter bait clicker on it than the garcia reel that I just missed a fish on, plus it was rigged up with an 8/0 hook instead of 10/0. I threw a 6 inch bullhead on it for good downsizing measure and tossed it out. At about 2:25 or so, I got a familiar thump. No clicker run, just a huge thump. I yanked my rod out of the holder and held it, with the baitrunner mode still on. Within about 10 seconds, the fish started spooling off line. I engaged the spool and after a slight load, I set the hook into a monster! Wow, this was a big fish, and the rod was certainly not OVER-sized (it's supposed to be my channel cat rod). About 10-15 minutes later, my arms were sore and there was a fish in the net. I pulled it in, measured it up, took a couple pics, and let her go.

45x29 inches, about 45 lbs, I'd say. I was a scale forgetting dork. Oh well! I got good accurate measurements thanks to the 98 cent 5 foot flexible retractable tape from menards! That thing rocks compared to my old 25 foot metal tape that I had been using. Man, what a night! Start off strong, then finish off stronger!!

Stayed out another hour and a half, but I couldn't really pay close attention after that fish, I was too excited. So I just packed up and left at about 4-ish. 2 fish on 3 runs, fish separated by almost 8 hours. Wow. Perfect weather, fog was just starting to set in by the time I left.

Here's a couple pics. The blood isn't the fish, it's me. He got me pretty good, I bled all over my boat, shirt, camera, etc...

Next time I might wear gloves like a girl...this pic was after I got home and washed it up!

[DTro]

Congrats Brian! You seem to be catching on rather quick

When I saw your text at 2:30 to call you. I told the guys in the truck that this was either real good, or real bad. Glad it wasn't the latter with all the fog out there.

That's a piggy and I believe another SAFARI fish!

[aanderud]

Sorry about the cryptic message. I wasn't thinking very well at that point, was so stoked about the fish and wanted to tell people in person! I certainly didn't mean to scare anyone!

Fog was just setting in as I was leaving, could still see both shores though, so it wasn't too bad yet. As I drove up into Carver I saw that it was much worse. Not sure if it was the 10 miles or the 20 minutes since I had been on the water, or a combo. Seems like it could set in that fast though.

[hanson]

Congrats dude!

If those are accurate dimensions on that fish, your picture doesn't do it justice. Just looking at the photos, I wouldn't even guess 40lbs. Going by dimensions, it should be an upper 40lb fish, my 44" x 29" was 48lbs.

[dps]

Congrats on the fish!

We left shortly before 2am and were having a tough time getting fish to take a bait.. one bite all evening for an instant break off on a hookset(sharp snag involved?). We fished 4 spots because we couldnt get an anchor to hold in another spot. The spotlight went out as we were pulling up to our last spot. The air was getting very heavy around 1 am.. Any more moisture and I would have needed gills to breath!

Water temp at 78 degrees last night... its not going to be long for the spawn.

[Larry FlatCaster]

Nice fish mate....

In the future, text the measurments. When you send out the "Call me" through text... at that time. I was thinking the same thing DTRO was. Oh OH.... could be problems. That why I rang you back in my undies... LOL>

You guys need to start tagging your fish so you can see if its the same fish, Seems to be happening alot lately, And the magic spot keep on producing. over and over and over and over and over.....

Awesome JOB!!!!

thanks

LFC

[harvey lee]

Very nice fish. Hoping that my upgrade will be in that size group.

[walleyejim]

Wow! Nice Fish!

[aanderud]

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your picture doesn't do it justice. Just looking at the photos, I wouldn't even guess 40lbs. Going by dimensions, it should be an upper 40lb fish, my 44" x 29" was 48lbs.

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Yeah, the picture in my avatar (35 lbs, 2 inches shorter, 3 inches less girth) looks just as big or bigger. However, after seeing both fish in person, there's no comparison. This fish was a giant relative to the other.

I bought a new measuring device yesterday before going out because my big old metal tape measure didn't do well on girth measurements, which we all know are very important to be accurate. The formula squares the girth, so getting it off by a little will easily magnify to a bigger error on weight estimation.

I really took my time on these measurements, knowing that I had no scale with me and this would likely be my biggest cat for quite a while, if not forever. I wanted something good enough to get a realistic guesstimate of weight. Of course a scale would have been ideal, but hey, can't turn back time! Argh

Here's the measuring tape I got yesterday if anyone wants to try one...compact, retractable, cheap, effective. 98 cents at menards.

[sparcebag]

That tape looks nice! I've found myself looking for sticks,string most any thing to get measurements,to check later.girth now that theres a equasion is important and a carpenters rule dont cut it.I'll be in mens.later this week cant go wrong for a buck!! Ya I have a scale also but I dont have one for each tackle box,an the ole memory fades at times! GREAT FISH Now I'm hopin I'll need a tape longer than 5 foot

[harvey lee]

I use that same type tape and it will get you the exact measurement.

[hanson]

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I really took my time on these measurements, knowing that I had no scale with me and this would likely be my biggest cat for quite a while, if not forever.

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I don't know if I'd say that quite yet. It seams like the guys who get lucky, really get lucky!

I'll keep catching these 5-10 pounders and wait for you to post another 40+! It'll happen, I'll almost bet on it. WWG, PierBridge, and Mr Special also have the cards stacked their way this year.

LFC & Dtro were hot last year, although we haven't even reached the time of year they did the damage last year.

I'm also predicting I won't catch another fish over 30lbs this year. I'm just getting that vibe.

[DTro]

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although we haven't even reached the time of year they did the damage last year.

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Dude you just made my day!

[Larry FlatCaster]

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although we haven't even reached the time of year they did the damage last year.

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Dude you just made my day!

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Dude you just made my day too.