# A Few Of My Favorite Things. Why I Love Spring



## Eatsleepfish (Aug 3, 2008)

WARNING: The following post contains photos of very large fish. If this makes you feel uneasy, please turn to a different thread.

Ahh spring. My favorite time of year to fish. The hot spring bite on the river is relatively short(in my short experience anyway). Roughly 6 weeks of pure awesomeness awaits the angler who hits the water when the time is just right. It can be 6 strong weeks of catching anything and everything all in small areas. Multi species days are pretty much a given and the bellies on some will put a grin on even the most seasoned fisherman.
So lately fishing has been pretty much nil. I've barely been out and the couple times I have been, there wasn't really anything noteworthy to speak of. I've been bound to hitting the water at night almost exclusively and the post spawn saug bite just has not been happening. Quite disappointing. With the weekend upon us I was able to actually get out in the daylight. Weird?! The 3 hours of water time yesterday was some of the best I've ever had on the river. 18 fish caught and 6 losses with a number of missed strikes mixed in. 15 smallies, a redhorse, a drum, and a 24in, 5lb, 4oz saugeye kicker! The smallmouth weren't huge(nothing over 14 inches), but were exceedingly hungry and feisty. I don't think any smallies left for the air under 3 times. Every single one was a jumping maniac hence the 6 losses.

Just ESF with a piggy saug.



After having a huge boost in confidence, I decided to get out early for a short, Easter run before church. I awoke half an hour before my alarm and thought that I should check out a spot I hadn't been to since the fall. I had extra time so why not. With waders on I hit the water which was still dark and cool. The current was extremely swift and the spot had changed quite a bit since last year. The heavy flooding from winter actually created a couple mini submerged islands which I could stand on in shallow water to escape the worst of the current's force. I had a silver curly shad on and began casting to numerous juicy spots before finally getting a hard short strike. The plastic was practically ripped off of the jighead from whatever tried to eat it. The next 10 minutes were spent working the water and just as I drifted through the same area again, a very commanding thump was felt. I immediately swung and felt nothing but weight. Hmm this must be a very nice smallmouth, but no, this run is crazy. Did a large carp just grab it? ZZZzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz went the drag. Further and further out. Man I gotta stop this fish! I've been spooled once. After that disappointment, I learned a trick that has worked every time since. Continuously hit the rod with your hand until the fish stops. Well, it worked and after maybe a 150ft run, the fish stopped. I gained a little line and suddenly realized that this was no carp or world record smallie. No, this had to be a flathead. The next 25 minutes of battling this cat was pretty insane. I'm standing in moderate current, fighting a fish in very heavy current way out in the middle of the river. When she decided to stop, it felt like I was snagged up. I could barely drag her off the bottom while walking backwards and when she wanted to run there was no stopping her quickly. Just pure tug of war at its finest. I knew she was heavy and she wasn't going to give in easily so patience was the name of the game. I've lost big fish to poor decisions when I get antsy and just want the fish to come in. When you have light tackle you aren't going to land many with that thinking so I played out everything in my head before making a move. The toughest part was when the behemoth was visibly in shallow water a mere 7 feet away, but the current was so strong all I could do was hold on until she could be guided to an area with less current. Directly behind the fish was a deep hole so broken line or a straightened hook would have lost her forever. Finally, my patience was rewarded and this river monster was in hand. After the fight, I had to wade back across the river in knee deep, ripping current over loose rocks with a huge fish in my hand. Don't fall and don't let go. Success! 12 inches, 24 inches, 36 inches, 39 inches, the tape measure kept going, 40 inches, 41.5 inches. WOW 41.5 inches! A new PB flathead! She hit the scales at 33lbs, 2 oz. Enough talking here she is....



I always thought it would be fun to take one of these shots, but either the fish aren't big enough or I forget. Ol Zebco wins another lol



My first flathead of the year was awesome. It took 2 1/2 years to beat my previous pb so we'll see how long this one stands. Oh yeah I caught 3 smallies in the 10-11 inch range before I left, but they were bleh after this fish.
Get out while you can! Everything is biting so don't be shy lol


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## chris1162 (Mar 12, 2008)

Awesome fish man!!!


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## ML1187 (Mar 13, 2012)

Wow double wow triple wow !!!! Giant Saug man and flattie. One day I'm gonna get one of those 5lbers !!!


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

Unbelievable Man!!!! I will never underestimate your skills with a zebco again... that fish is just huge!


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## Cat Mangler (Mar 25, 2012)

Holy crap dude, did you have to water cool the reel on that monster? I mean the saug is just great, but a 41.5" flathead in may is fantastic!


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## Fisherman 3234 (Sep 8, 2008)

Tank Flatty bud!!! Congratulations!!!


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## gLoomisSR781 (Aug 8, 2012)

Man that's great! Congratulations on your catches!


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## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

Congratulations on the Trophy Fish, that's one heck of a flattie, Nice !!








Good luck and Good Fishing !


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## SMBHooker (Jan 3, 2008)

Man - Flat Head City! Love the warning in your post. Probably would of lost some elderly OGF members had u not worked the.


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## Specgrade (Apr 14, 2017)

Awsome day of fishing! Love the rod in the mouth pic!

That sky looks pretty wicked...


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## Saugeye Tom (Oct 6, 2010)

Just shaking my head.....i would retire the zebco! Beautiful


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## SConner (Mar 3, 2007)

Congrats, you brought a knife to a gun fight and won


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## BaitWaster (Oct 25, 2013)

Congratulations on the massive flathead!


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## BuzzBait Brad (Oct 17, 2014)

Awesome fish! Wow. My PB is only 30" and that thing put up a heck of a fight. I can't even imagine catching one this big. Good stuff.


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## Aaron2012 (Mar 26, 2014)

Good lord that flathead is yyyuuuuuuuggggee!!!!! The zebco strikes again.


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## Eatsleepfish (Aug 3, 2008)

I forgot to mention that just before catching the big saugeye, the gears in my one reel finally gave out. Yep, after just starting the 4th season and well over 1000 fish later it finally kicked the bucket. Pretty impressive for a cheapo reel getting abused year after year from some pretty hefty fish. Thankfully I brought a spare with me and I sure needed it.

Spring has really taken off. I mean really taken off. My year started off embarrassingly slow and then out of the blue a switch was turned and my oh my what fun it has been. On one very late night I was crushing sauger, saugeye, and smallies with minnow crankbaits. I noticed a pretty long fish in the shallows a mere 7-8ft in front of me. It took 3 casts, but she finally grabbed it on the 3rd go around and put up an impressive fight for water less than a foot deep. 21.5 inches and fully spawned out...



Another day gave me the opportunity to take my daughter out for the first time this year and we caught our first fish of 2017 together. Her ninja reflexes awarded her a full blown lick of the fish and well, judging by her reaction it was pretty gross lol



The smallie action has been very hot lately although I have failed to find anything over 14 inches... until this one that is...


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## Eatsleepfish (Aug 3, 2008)

This next post will be dedicated to the best fishing trip my brother and I have ever had. My wife said I could do whatever I wanted that day because she was spending the day with a friend and would be taking our daughter. Sweet! Ok, well hybrids were at the top of the list, but some crazy rain storms were expected. It wasn't looking very bright so I looked into other options for wading up north for smallies and white bass runs just in case. The plan was to wake up stupid early, check the radar, and then make a decision from there. My little bro would be spending the night which would make it easy to just go somewhere. Upon waking up and checking the radar, it was decided that if we left right away, we could get up to 3 hours of fishing in before the heavy rains hit. We would bring rain gear just in case, but they were calling for an inch of rain to fall in a few hours time so we would likely just leave. Let me tell you, the gamble paid off BIG TIME. What...A...Trip! The rain basically never came with the exception of a couple drizzle episodes. We stayed for the better part of the day and my only regret was not calling my wife before we left because we could have stayed an extra hour.
On the very first cast I get a wake up call from a 15 inch hybrid. Hmm first cast jinx or a sign of things to come? A few minutes later my brother yells over that he has one and it's giving him quite the battle. This fish plays him well, but in the end she surfaces and into the net she goes. Nice! 21 inches and an ounce shy of 5lbs.



I get a white bass just after that and then my brother says, "I have another one and this thing is really pulling hard"! Within a minute a shark like tail hits the surface. Yep, paddlefish, but don't get too excited. They are tough to land and you really have to be lucky to hook them just right. I had to talk him through so he wouldn't get too excited and potentially make a mistake costing him the fish. Thankfully he kept his cool. Watching my brother fight this fish was really fun. His Abu Silvermax tired it out within 15 minutes and I was able to grab it. His cheapo jighead hook was bent about 30 degrees outwards and had it gone for one more run I doubt it would have stayed on. Congratulations! Man I was excited for him! 48 inches of prehistoricness...




He had to sit and rest his arms after battling those 2 lol

And the fish just kept coming. An unbelievable 46 total between us. We lost about 10 as well. 25 hybrids, 2 sauger, a smb, paddlefish, and loads of wb. Of the 25 hybrids, 12 were 19-21 inches, only 4 or 5 were under 17 inches and the rest were 17-18 inchers. They were aggressive and fighting like your typical hybrid in heavy current. What a blast!



Zebco vs hybrid. Who will win?





The majority of white bass were small, but a few were very nice.



Brothers from different mothers.



When both of your thumbs look like this, it was a great day!



For us, a trip to hybrid heaven finally paid off. This was our 3 or 4th trip there together since last year and it finally produced some good quality fish in some great numbers. Gotta love spring.


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## SMBHooker (Jan 3, 2008)

The thousand fish rod....It should hang somewhere special. 

You got a big time thread running here man....crazy good fish of every species!!!!!!!!!!


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## BuzzBait Brad (Oct 17, 2014)

It's decided. I'm gonna go catch a paddlefish this year. That's an awesome report


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## flintlock (May 30, 2006)

I recognize those clouds and know exactly where you were. 

Outstanding day!


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## brandonw (Jun 24, 2015)

ESF IS BACK LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! Man, some beautiful fish here. We expect nothing less of you Patrick.

I'm also an advocate for retiring the zebco. You got your money's worth, hang that legend up on the wall.


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## Eatsleepfish (Aug 3, 2008)

Originally I was going to replace the gears in that reel so it could continue on, but something unexpected came about. I had entered the pic of me holding the huge flattie with the rod in my teeth in a Zebco photo contest and won! A new Zebco 33 combo is coming my way  So maybe retirement is in fact the future of that reel...

As for fishing, if you haven't noticed, the rivers are a complete mess. I got into quite a number of smallies before the rains came which was a blast although nothing of size and even had some fun multi-species night runs just before as well. The lightning and heavy downpours forced me to take some time off, but by late Saturday I had a couple opportunities. First off was when my daughter was taking a nap. Knowing the river was something like 6-7ft over what it had been, I threw some waders on and went for a walk. It was mostly just to check what the river looked like in various spots along a certain stretch. Forests that were typically 50ft from the river now had a foot of water under them. Upon closer inspection, I noticed huge carp hanging out in the muddy water. Occasionally a back or fin would pop up revealing their presence. If carp are rooting around, the cats have to be here too. I made the smart decision beforehand to carry a rod and some frozen skipjack with me and after rigging it up, I found myself wading through the trees. The brush was too darn thick to cast in so I literally just dropped the bait right in front of me and within 5 minutes it was fish on! A 15 inch channel had found my bait and while not a monster, given the scenario it was really fun! Sadly, just as I dropped it back in the water my wife texted me saying I had to come home. Not getting skunked on a 5 minute trip is fine with me and I dared not make my wife upset when she gave me the ok to go out with another OGF member for a night kayaking trip later that evening.
Right at sunset, I found myself sitting in a kayak in a creek mouth joined by a couple other guys. They had gotten there about an hour prior and had already caught a few channels. Hopes were high that I would get a chance at my first kayak catfish and I quickly baited the hook with some skipjack and launched it toward the raging current seam. I was sitting about 100ft from the open river with my bait hanging out right in between. Just as darkness was setting in the line started moving right followed by the click, click, click of the C3's clicker. I reeled in the slack and set the hook. While I knew a fish was on, kayaks don't let you know what you are dealing with at first and all I knew is it was heading for the main river and dragging me with it. Long story short, I went for a ride and the one guy had to grab my yak and pull me back as I fought the fish just before hitting the main, raging river. I'm not going to lie, it was scary in those conditions, but I understand why people kayak catfish  I was tested thoroughly for my first go round with a crazy FAT flathead. It was only 28 inches, but weighed 12lbs, 12 ounces. Typically flatties of that length don't hit that kind of weight outside of spring time. What a blast! I'm hooked and only having one bite that night was cool by me. So what would a 40+ lber be like?


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## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

That sure is a pretty fish ! Great Story to go with it, Nice.
Good luck and Good Fishing !


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## Cat Mangler (Mar 25, 2012)

Eatsleepfish said:


> Originally I was going to replace the gears in that reel so it could continue on, but something unexpected came about. I had entered the pic of me holding the huge flattie with the rod in my teeth in a Zebco photo contest and won! A new Zebco 33 combo is coming my way  So maybe retirement is in fact the future of that reel...
> 
> As for fishing, if you haven't noticed, the rivers are a complete mess. I got into quite a number of smallies before the rains came which was a blast although nothing of size and even had some fun multi-species night runs just before as well. The lightning and heavy downpours forced me to take some time off, but by late Saturday I had a couple opportunities. First off was when my daughter was taking a nap. Knowing the river was something like 6-7ft over what it had been, I threw some waders on and went for a walk. It was mostly just to check what the river looked like in various spots along a certain stretch. Forests that were typically 50ft from the river now had a foot of water under them. Upon closer inspection, I noticed huge carp hanging out in the muddy water. Occasionally a back or fin would pop up revealing their presence. If carp are rooting around, the cats have to be here too. I made the smart decision beforehand to carry a rod and some frozen skipjack with me and after rigging it up, I found myself wading through the trees. The brush was too darn thick to cast in so I literally just dropped the bait right in front of me and within 5 minutes it was fish on! A 15 inch channel had found my bait and while not a monster, given the scenario it was really fun! Sadly, just as I dropped it back in the water my wife texted me saying I had to come home. Not getting skunked on a 5 minute trip is fine with me and I dared not make my wife upset when she gave me the ok to go out with another OGF member for a night kayaking trip later that evening.
> Right at sunset, I found myself sitting in a kayak in a creek mouth joined by a couple other guys. They had gotten there about an hour prior and had already caught a few channels. Hopes were high that I would get a chance at my first kayak catfish and I quickly baited the hook with some skipjack and launched it toward the raging current seam. I was sitting about 100ft from the open river with my bait hanging out right in between. Just as darkness was setting in the line started moving right followed by the click, click, click of the C3's clicker. I reeled in the slack and set the hook. While I knew a fish was on, kayaks don't let you know what you are dealing with at first and all I knew is it was heading for the main river and dragging me with it. Long story short, I went for a ride and the one guy had to grab my yak and pull me back as I fought the fish just before hitting the main, raging river. I'm not going to lie, it was scary in those conditions, but I understand why people kayak catfish  I was tested thoroughly for my first go round with a crazy FAT flathead. It was only 28 inches, but weighed 12lbs, 12 ounces. Typically flatties of that length don't hit that kind of weight outside of spring time. What a blast! I'm hooked and only having one bite that night was cool by me. So what would a 40+ lber be like?


That is what I call a proper christening dude! Not a true boat until Flathead slimed!


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## ML1187 (Mar 13, 2012)

Saweetttt! No doubt you were scared for your life in little red man!!!!!


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## Saugeye Tom (Oct 6, 2010)

Eatsleepfish said:


> Originally I was going to replace the gears in that reel so it could continue on, but something unexpected came about. I had entered the pic of me holding the huge flattie with the rod in my teeth in a Zebco photo contest and won! A new Zebco 33 combo is coming my way  So maybe retirement is in fact the future of that reel...
> 
> As for fishing, if you haven't noticed, the rivers are a complete mess. I got into quite a number of smallies before the rains came which was a blast although nothing of size and even had some fun multi-species night runs just before as well. The lightning and heavy downpours forced me to take some time off, but by late Saturday I had a couple opportunities. First off was when my daughter was taking a nap. Knowing the river was something like 6-7ft over what it had been, I threw some waders on and went for a walk. It was mostly just to check what the river looked like in various spots along a certain stretch. Forests that were typically 50ft from the river now had a foot of water under them. Upon closer inspection, I noticed huge carp hanging out in the muddy water. Occasionally a back or fin would pop up revealing their presence. If carp are rooting around, the cats have to be here too. I made the smart decision beforehand to carry a rod and some frozen skipjack with me and after rigging it up, I found myself wading through the trees. The brush was too darn thick to cast in so I literally just dropped the bait right in front of me and within 5 minutes it was fish on! A 15 inch channel had found my bait and while not a monster, given the scenario it was really fun! Sadly, just as I dropped it back in the water my wife texted me saying I had to come home. Not getting skunked on a 5 minute trip is fine with me and I dared not make my wife upset when she gave me the ok to go out with another OGF member for a night kayaking trip later that evening.
> Right at sunset, I found myself sitting in a kayak in a creek mouth joined by a couple other guys. They had gotten there about an hour prior and had already caught a few channels. Hopes were high that I would get a chance at my first kayak catfish and I quickly baited the hook with some skipjack and launched it toward the raging current seam. I was sitting about 100ft from the open river with my bait hanging out right in between. Just as darkness was setting in the line started moving right followed by the click, click, click of the C3's clicker. I reeled in the slack and set the hook. While I knew a fish was on, kayaks don't let you know what you are dealing with at first and all I knew is it was heading for the main river and dragging me with it. Long story short, I went for a ride and the one guy had to grab my yak and pull me back as I fought the fish just before hitting the main, raging river. I'm not going to lie, it was scary in those conditions, but I understand why people kayak catfish  I was tested thoroughly for my first go round with a crazy FAT flathead. It was only 28 inches, but weighed 12lbs, 12 ounces. Typically flatties of that length don't hit that kind of weight outside of spring time. What a blast! I'm hooked and only having one bite that night was cool by me. So what would a 40+ lber be like?


First flattie ever in lil red


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

nice cats buddy!


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## FishermanMike (Nov 28, 2012)

Some great fish man. I really like that bit about the channel in the flooded brush, that is really cool.


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## Eatsleepfish (Aug 3, 2008)

You know what is awesome about the heavy flooding? You get the river to yourself every single time. Yes, the river has been blasting at close to 40,000 cubic ft/sec and I am still catching fish! Day and night I'm getting action. Nothing really too exciting except for the fact that no one else is trying it and it's producing. Creek mouths and the forests have been my go to areas. Hitting places that are both new and never thought were possible until major water changes the landscape. Pretty cool stuff. My biggest catch this past week was just a 19 inch channel. Right after that one I missed something pretty wicked. I had a big chunk of skipjack out, my clicker on, and I'm just watching my rod tip in the dark. Out of nowhere a hit so hard occurred that the butt of the rod lifted and the pole tried running even with the clicker engaged! The clicker screamed briefly and as I went to grab the rod, the line actually back lashed a number of feet leaving me with slack and no fish on the other hand! Wow, I can understand backlash on line that can't go out, but when the clicker is engaged and line can be freely taken out that's some crazy force. Not to mention I had 4 ounces of weight on too. This was just before the major flooding in a calm eddy so it had to be a fish and not a log. I guess we'll never know...
The big highlight of the week was getting another brother out for some fishing today. He took advantage of the license free weekend and without a soul in site, he collected his first catch in almost 2 years. We tried fishing the woods again and he connected. Nothing major, but the river was flowing around 33,000!



Here is an example of what to look for when the water is high. Bring a pair of waders or rubber boots along and get in there. The best spots are where there is some current. If you see carp, drop your bait in there. The rooting carp typically have cats in the near vicinity waiting for an easy meal.



Lastly, after having this idea in my head for over a year now, I finally made some el cheapo breakaway slip weights. I cut a straw into small sections and tied a weight to it with 14lb line. My main line is 25lb test.


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## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

Way to go !
I wish I had the confidence to fish that dirty water. Hope you get the big one ya missed.
Good luck and Good Fishing !


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