2008 Flathead Cat Pictures

[aanderud]

Wow, nice outing!

[wastewaterguru]

Still nursing my wounds from last night.....check out the carnage on the left hand.. I think the blood on the fish is from me. I got shredded a couple times last night. The worst was getting out a gut hooked fish. I have tooth rash 5 inches above my wrist on my right arm getting out a hook on a little 30 inch fish. I honestly feel that there is no reason not to retrieve the hook even if they swallow it. I was well inside the stomach of that fish with my hand.

[hanson]

Wow, nice outing!

And to think that Softshell Eddie and myself were fishing darn near within eyesight of those 2 guys and got skunked, not even a single "solid" run.

Nice job guys!

[Shack]

You guys just make me sick !

No, you guys give me hope!

WWG,

Would just cutting the line be a better thing to do? I have did this on flats in the past and for walleyes on Mille Lacs!

Ya, when you have the Midas touch, you have the Midas touch!

[wastewaterguru]

I know guys that will cut the line....and I don't believe that is too bad for the fish.

But if I think I can get the hook, I will try to get the hook.

[Larry FlatCaster]

I've had to cut one line this year. Could not get the hook and was worried about injuring the fish. I have gotten some deep ones out over the years. I will attempt if poss.

[Larry FlatCaster]

Originally Posted By: aanderud

Wow, nice outing!

And to think that Softshell Eddie and myself were fishing darn near within eyesight of those 2 guys and got skunked, not even a single "solid" run.

Nice job guys!

Its called breaking your rig in for the year. Hope you can shake the monkey before tomorrow night.

[catnipmn]

WWG,

Looks like you may have wrap the hand or let me take all the fish tomorrow Looks like some fun!

[DTro]

I just noticed that the fish I caught last night has a forked whisker!

Should be easy to ID that one in the future.

[crazyice]

It's the devil in disguise man!

[mainbutter]

I know guys that will cut the line....and I don't believe that is too bad for the fish.

But if I think I can get the hook, I will try to get the hook.

Leaving the hook in is a better option than trying something that will possibly(or definitely) kill the fish.

Hooks will rust out over time. Think about the number of fish that get hooks left in them(or break lines etc). How times do you catch a fish that still has a hook or lure in it? Never happened to me before, except the one time where my brother caught a pike immediately after it cut his line, and attacked the next lure he threw out there.

Hooks rust out slower in fresh water than salt water, I can't give an estimate for the exact time it could take. I've been told by many people that in salt water, a hook will rust out in a day or two(which is why some shark fishermen don't feel too bad about leaving a circle hook in the corner of a shark's mouth, instead of risking fingers)

[rushing]

the big catfish hooks will kill the fish looooong before they rust out...depending on how it is hooked.

[harvey lee]

Looks like you had a very nice night. Hopefully it won't spoil tonights. Watch you rear view mirror as my truck may be behind you trying to locate that hotspot.

[mplspug]

the big catfish hooks will kill the fish looooong before they rust out...depending on how it is hooked.

Along with plier, people should pack snips to nip off the barb. That, along with cutting the line, could make removal easier. And if you don't get it out, it has a better chance of working itself out. Gut hooking any fish is going to have a high mortality rate, no matter what you do. They just lose too much blood. Even if you don't see it, there is a good chance they are bleeding internally. But the bigger the fish, the better their chance of surviving.

I'd say where possible get the hook out. The hook is going to make it hard to heal and keep agitating the area, making it more susceptible to infection. A lot of times it's a dang if you do, dang if you don't scenario.

[Tyler Holm]

18.3#

16.7#

[crazyice]

29lbs 14oz

[Whisker Warrior]

Nice fish crazyice!! Here's one i caught last night. The only bite but it made the trip and the ensuing downpour worth it...38x25...27.10lbs

[DTro]

[Scott K]

What no story? How big is that one?

[harvey lee]

I'll guess Dtro's is 37#s.

[Scott K]

Nice fish! What did you guys all end up with? How late did you fish?

[harvey lee]

Ended up with a big zero. We tried another spot and approx. midnight we quit. I believe we had 1 run and thats all she wrote. The rising water in the creek probably hurt us last night.

[Scott K]

I wanted to make it a late night, but it was long past bedtime for atleast one of the guys in my boat

[DTro]

Couple more for the picture gallery:

[DTro]

One more of recent double.

Not huge fish, but a double is always fun: