Son went bass fishing yesterday

[Hogtamer]

Fishing in a club bass tournament on Clark Hill Lake (aka Lake Thurmond by Corp of Engineers!) yesterday, son's buddy fishing with him caught this world record flathead bass! 48 lb woth of ugly and chowder.

[richhodg66]

Nice fish. Flatheads are predators. I have had them hit crank baits and inline spinners before. Generally hard fighters in my experience, one that big must have been a handful.

[starmac]

Maybe a lake record, but how can it be a world record??

Maybe a world record on light tackle??

[Fishman]

Yummy. Much cooler than a 6 lb bass

[shoot-n-lead]

Catfish...now that is some fine table fare.

We have a place on Lake Sinclair...I love that catfishing and catfish eating.

[osteodoc08]

Very nice!

[starmac]

Yummy. Much cooler than a 6 lb bass

And better table fare in my opinion.
I always liked catching bass, but it is below crappie or catfish as far as table fare in my opinion.

[Bzcraig]

What the heck is a flathead bass? Can't find a reference on internet. Looks like a catfish to me.

[PS Paul]

It is a Flathead catfish. I believe the OP was being humurous and/or witty!

Pretty awesome!

[starmac]

Totally missed the flathead bass, I guess that would be a world record. lol
You never know what you will catch on a bass lure, I have caught a few catfish (small ones) and once thought I had a monster timber trout, but reeled in a loggerhead that was in the 15 pound range. lol

I have several times had alligators take a topwater plug, and saw a nutrient rad take one of a friends one time.

[jeepyj]

Quite impressive , We would have to drill a pretty big hole to bring that one through this time of year around here.

[Blackwater]

Way to GO! There are stories of divers going down to inspect the dam, and seeing cats "as big as they were." I suspect these are, at best, exaggerations, but it's been there long enough .... you never really know for sure. That must have been one heck of a fight! What kind of lure did he catch it on? Rapala/Rebel/jerkbait????

[starmac]

I will guarantee it was a fight, I caught a 42 pound flathead on a trotline, and it was even a pretty good fight. It had been on there long enough to wallow out a 1 inch hole where the hook was, and still plenty of fight left. I could not belive it when I got it in the boat, the hook just fell out.

[runfiverun]

I got my pop to go out cat fishing in the boat with me only once.
I was running a single blade spinner and bit of worm and was catching nice 16-20" cat's.
he couldn't see my side of the boat and was getting pretty mad about me catching fish after fish, and all he was catching was Carp.
I finally showed him what I was doing and he wouldn't believe me even after seeing me catch one.

[Bzcraig]

It is a Flathead catfish. I believe the OP was being humurous and/or witty!

Pretty awesome!

Thanks Paul for the explanation! I only got it after your post.

[MaryB]

Brood fish, anything over 10 pounds goes back in to keep up the stocks of fish!

[jonp]

Nice Bass! Guy in the reservoir north of here caught a Blue over 100lbs not too long ago.

[shaner]

Record or not I'd love to hook on something like that I caught a 10 lbs channel catfish here in ohio one summer thought I had ol Moby himself!

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[richhodg66]

Brood fish, anything over 10 pounds goes back in to keep up the stocks of fish!

I've never caught a huge one like that, but I've heard they don't taste as good after they get real big. Seems like I saw a few come out of Milford lake every year that were about that big and that's what I was told; take your pictures then put it back in the water.

I know the Blues get the biggest, but those flatheads are tough and put up a fight. I can't imagine what it must have been like to boat that one.

[Teddy (punchie)]

Brood fish, anything over 10 pounds goes back in to keep up the stocks of fish!

Not like we fish much any more but that's my opinion. Plus older fish from some of the rivers around here they just look bad, like they been in a war. Ohio down your taking a chance at too many Chemicals .

Sure is a big catbass LOL

[Teddy (punchie)]

Record or not I'd love to hook on something like that I caught a 10 lbs channel catfish here in ohio one summer thought I had ol Moby himself!

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Use creek chub (s) about 4-6 inches , on a bobber with a stop, on the line.

[w5pv]

I agree with you,a large catfish is grainy and don't taste as good as the smaller fish.I usually turn them back when they get up to around 5 to 6 lbs.

[Blackwater]

I've eaten 30+ lb. blue cats from Santee-Cooper and they were as delicate and sweet and flaky as any I've ever had. Also had a little flat head, and it was great as well. I'd hate to have to rate them, relative to each other. But they CAN vary, quite widely, and it depends on the water they come out of, what they've been eating, preparation, how they were handled after the catch, and how they were cleaned and prepared. Lots and lots of variables there! Mostly, I try to keep them either alive or on ice until we skin and clean them, and then wash them out VERY throroughly, and then, most folks tend to overcook them (including me sometimes, unfortunately). But cooking fish and seafood, and really good steaks, is an art form all unto itself, and it seems to be an acquired one, taught by someone who already really knows their way around a stove. But big cats CAN be as scruptious as anything that walks, crawls or flies. It's all in the details, like most everything else, it seems.

[richhodg66]

I've eaten 30+ lb. blue cats from Santee-Cooper and they were as delicate and sweet and flaky as any I've ever had. Also had a little flat head, and it was great as well. I'd hate to have to rate them, relative to each other. But they CAN vary, quite widely, and it depends on the water they come out of, what they've been eating, preparation, how they were handled after the catch, and how they were cleaned and prepared. Lots and lots of variables there! Mostly, I try to keep them either alive or on ice until we skin and clean them, and then wash them out VERY throroughly, and then, most folks tend to overcook them (including me sometimes, unfortunately). But cooking fish and seafood, and really good steaks, is an art form all unto itself, and it seems to be an acquired one, taught by someone who already really knows their way around a stove. But big cats CAN be as scruptious as anything that walks, crawls or flies. It's all in the details, like most everything else, it seems.

I grew up very nearby to Santee and Dad used to take us for day trips out to the lake all the time. I even worked as a seasonal employee when I was about 19 one summer. Did a lot of walking the beach that summer picking up trash and found dead ones washed up that were just huge. Gar too. That's a neat lake and way, way bigger than any we have out here.

[starmac]

I have eaten some big ones, there may be some difference in them and a 3 pounder, but not so much that I am going to think about turning them down. lol
When I was in first grade, we lived close to a little cafe at Dam B Texas, while dad worked on the Sam Raburn dam building it.

The cafe bought catfish (their specialty) from fisherman in the area, and they bought big ones. I was only 6 years old, so can not tell you what pound range they were in, but I would go and watch them clean them, and it was a regular deal for them to be bigger than I was.Out behingd the cafe they had a pole between two trees to hang and skin them on, and it would not be uncommon at all for them to have 6 to 8 of them, all bigger than I was.

[MaryB]

I used to get a lot of blues out of the MN River below New Ulm(I won't say the exact spot, I still fish it!) but the population is down and the water is a lot dirtier. I won't eat anything from there anymore. My part of the MN river further upstream near Granite Falls has some nice flatheads and they are safe to eat once a month(mercury, trim ALL the fat and lateral line out). Need to get up around Montevideo before the river is cleaner.

[starmac]

I commercial fished rivers for a couple of years with hoop nets, fish including catfish runs as far up river as they can possibly go when they are running.

The flatheads change color depending on the water they are in, in some rivers in Texas they are called yellow cats, others look like the one pictured we called apps, but they are the very same fish.

Texas are very proud of their flatheads and put a limit on them that was not on many other species, and no flats could be taken by a commercial fisherman legally, heavy on that legally even though the statue of limitations has long since run out. lol

[Alabama358]

Way to GO! There are stories of divers going down to inspect the dam, and seeing cats "as big as they were." I suspect these are, at best, exaggerations, but it's been there long enough .... you never really know for sure. That must have been one heck of a fight! What kind of lure did he catch it on? Rapala/Rebel/jerkbait????

Which dam?
I have heard the same story here in Wedowee Alabama about our dam, catfish bigger then men with eyes the size of dinner plates.

[starmac]

I have heard stories of the volkswagon size cats supposedly at just about every dam in Texas, and even elephant butte in NM.

I have my doubts, but deep water does hide a lot of things, and I would not be suprized if someone eventually pulled in a 2 or 300 hundred pounder.

[Mk42gunner]

Regardless of anything else, pulling that 48 pound flathead in while using any kind of tackle meant for normal bass fishing had to be a real job.

Robert

[richhodg66]

Regardless of anything else, pulling that 48 pound flathead in while using any kind of tackle meant for normal bass fishing had to be a real job.

Robert

Several years ago, my sons and I stopped at the spillway of our dam where everybody fished just to look around and there was a young guy there fishing with his son who had just landed a carp or buffalo, can't remember exactly which, that was 40 pounds if it was an ounce. He had one of these little Zebco closed face reels and round they sell a million of at Wal Mart for kids to fish with, usually strung with cheap, six-pound test line. He must have really known what he was doing to land that fish, but he didn't even seem to think about it. I'd have broken off the line, maybe the rod.

[Blackwater]

Catching things we never anticipated would bite reminds me of some of the poor folks, black and white alike, who used to be frequently seen fishing under bridges in creeks for the fish that lived there. Creeks hold a LOT more fish than most folks would ever anticipate, and they caught a lot. Once in a while, a 6-8 lb. bass would bite a little cricket on a brim hook, and the tales told about those fights would be worthy of any campfire get-together! Even small gators have been caught like that, and alligator turtles as well. Want a BIG fight? Get an alligator turtle on ANYTHING! On a cane pole, few are landed, but the ones that are, begins a new quandry - How do you kill it once it's on land? I've eaten one alligator turtle. It was GOOD! And there literally ARE parts of it that taste like beef, some like chicken, and some sort'a like seafood! Mom made a soup out of some of it. The one we got was about 30 lbs., and we had a couple of good meals off of it. Three, maybe. Can't recall, but it was all really good to eat! The soup had a taste I've never tasted before, and I don't know how to describe it. Mom could make corn shucks taste like a meal fit for King Solomon, though. Bit cats, especially flatheads, DO eat primarily other fish. What else do they have to support their great size when they get big? And flatheads are almost exclusively predators. And they'll hit bass lures quite regularly. That one was obviously seeking an easy meal! Good thing the angler was set up to land it! A good drag is an absolute must for the big ones. It's like a striper's first run in a small river. You can forget stoppiing it. You just have to go with it and do your best to stay connected until it finally tires. A big one will really test your mettle - AND your drag and line!

[woodbutcher]

:D If those folks are talking about BLUE CATS around the dams,yeah,it is very possible.I have seen pictures taken in the 1880`s of big blues caught in the Mississippi.One was hung on a scale and the tail was dragging on the dock.It still bottomed out a 300lb capacity scale.There are quite a few blues in the 100 to 150lb range being caught and released in the Mississippi.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

[starmac]

What is the currant record for blue cats. I do not know, but would bet it is shy of 150 pounds.

[MaryB]

143 pounds is the current USA record blue cat http://www.catfishedge.com/world-record-catfish/

[Tom W.]

I learned a yellow cat and a mud cat are the same. Dunno about a Flathead. I used to eat a few blue cats and as many channel cats as I felt like cleaning about twenty years ago from Lake Eufaula.
Walter F. George reservoir to be proper.

[starmac]

A yellow cat is nothing even remotely like what we called a mud cat. All of what we called mud cats were small, as in 1 1/2 pound or less and did not have the flat head. Yellow cats also pretty much eat live food, stink bait doesn't cut it with them.

[MaryB]

Mud cats are called bullheads up here and are only edible early spring, after that they taste like mud! We catch a 5 gallon bucket full every spring and do a big fish fry.

[Blackwater]

I think we have every variety of bullhead here that exists. What we call "yellow cats" are smallish, and rarely get much over 1 lb. We catch them in the river, and they taste pretty good all year long here. My favorite is the "speckled cat," which is mottled with silver, white, gray and black spots all over. They seem, from having some in home aquariums, to be more into eating fresh food, like minnows, crawdads, and whatever live prey presents itself. Their flesh is a little flakier, and the taste a little "sweeter" than most cats - even channels and blues. Here, most big cats are taken on trot lines. My son sets them out when he anticipates a fish fry, and he's darn good at it. Likes to use cut eel as bait. Their skin is so tough it's hard to rob the hook of the bait, and as long as there's something on the hook, a cat will keep coming back until it's hooked. Shad works good, too. Most of the time, they'll take most anything, but some days, they get very selective. There's really an art to catching catfish, and I've never quite figured it all out. Close, but no brass ring. Some of the guys who live on the river are real maestros at it. And you have to get to know them really well before they'll tell you a few of their "secrets." When only they seem to be catching any, you KNOW they're doing SOMETHING special!

[sparky45]

http://twistedsifter.com/2015/02/fisherman-catches-280-pound-catfish/

[jonp]

Mud cats are called bullheads up here and are only edible early spring, after that they taste like mud! We catch a 5 gallon bucket full every spring and do a big fish fry.

Bullpout in the NorthEast where I'm from. My favorite eating fish and they are cleaner in the spring but we eat them all summer. Much meatier than the perch. Learn how to hold them before trying to clean, those spikes are painful!

[jonp]

143 pounds is the current USA record blue cat http://www.catfishedge.com/world-record-catfish/

Just up the road a few miles from me and was where my previous post of over 100lbs was referencing. I bet there are some a little bigger up there. They have catfish tournament at least once a year up there.