Uh-Oh!

Fishing a Ned Rig along Rip Rap just across Alabama State Line on the Tennessee River. Thought I was hung again but my (hang up) started swimming away from bank towards open water. Nothing I could do with my medium light spinning gear and 8lb test but to hang on. She pulled a mile of drag and we just drifted down river as I panicked and just held on. Finally after what seemed like ages I pulled her up to see what I had. Wow! What a fish. For every few feet I would gain she would pull a few yards. We were both wore out when i got the net around her head and heaved her aboard. After pictures and measurements I lowered in the river and let her go. No telling how long it takes for a Flathead to grow that big.
42-1/2 " 25lb 4ozAttachment 409381

WOW! What a catch!

Wow, what a monster. Great story and fish! Congrats.
Bob

That's a good size flathead. Surely that was a memorable fight

whale alert ! hear tell they grow big stupid fast , one article i read from i think it was a Kansas fisheries dept had numbers that were hard to grasp .
still a big ole fish no matter ....congrats
and KABOOM

If they grow fast they must be an eating machine!
Bob

What a catch, congratulations on landing it!

Awesome fish!


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I bet that was fun getting that big rascal to the boat

I bet that was a ton of fun. Nice catch… congrats

Those bonus fish are a hoot on crappie gear. I had one this morning ripping drag and putting up a fight. No where near that size. It sure does get the heart thumping

A true monster!! I’ll bet that was a good fight. I hooked a big cat on a 4lb rig once and handed it to my SIL and said “here, you play with this for a while.” He fought it for over ten minutes before we netted it, measured and weighed it and slid it back where it came from. He still talks about it. It weighed just over ten pounds. You’ll no doubt remember this one for a long time too.

Wowser, great job.

Woohoo

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That made the trip for sure!
Thanks for sharing !

You EARNED that one. Congratulations!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BobC

If they grow fast they must be an eating machine!
Bob

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the huge mouth gives them up ,they eat large prey often and anything else in their path .....it would be a bummer to be a small fish with one of them in the area for sure.
they are great fun on light tackle for sure , and thats a real nice one :highfive

Always heard they loved eating crappie.
People fishing for them use live bream. They are an apex predator

they are great in a lake filled with small crappie like my home lake and hate it when my buddy caught one this size on a dock line and cleaned it. need to have those to reduce any over population of sun fish or crappie. they will suck em down, especially at night.

Beautiful fish. 👍

Nice that you both got wore out and lived to retell the encounter. Congrats on a memorable day in the water.

I had a similar experience with a 19lb flathead this year, so I know exactly what a battle that was on light tackle. Congrats!

Very nice