# New PB Flathead:



## Dandrews (Oct 10, 2010)

I hit the GMR this morning; started out downstream of Hamilton and sort of worked my way back toward home. The first couple spots weren&#8217;t happenin&#8217;, they were both kind of a long walk from the car and the sky looked iffy so I cut it short. I got back to Hamilton and tied on the ol&#8217; ½ oz. lipless crank and went to work. It didn&#8217;t take too long for the fun to start. I made a long cast and had reeled it about ¾ of the way back in when &#8220;THUD&#8221;, my rod doubled and didn&#8217;t move. Not a snag, there was no doubt in my mind that it was a fish; I kept the pressure on and then it took off&#8217; ripping line off of my reel with each tail beat. By the time I got her in, we were both worn out. 
She was 41 ¼ inches long, 25 inches around and weighed just over 30 lbs. If it looks like I&#8217;m a little winded in the picture&#8230;I was. I did a number on my right shoulder during the winter and I was definitely feeling it after THAT fight.
When I released her, we both just kind of sat there catching our breath. She swam away and shortly after that I saw lightning in the distance so I called it a day.
After I got home the sun came back out, go figure.

The river in Hamilton was 62.75 (.832 kcfs) and rising
The water was a murky green but I could see the bottom over 12&#8221; deep.
There were no insect hatches where I was but I could see birds swarming around the riffles so I&#8217;m guessing that something was hatching&#8230;I just didn&#8217;t make it that far.


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## JonTheFisherman (Oct 11, 2009)

Very nice fish Dan. I thought my 23lb was impressive for catching on a lipless crank. You look exhausted, lol. Congrats bud.


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## E_Lin (Jun 30, 2011)

That's outstanding.
I can't wait to get into a fight like that myself sometime.
I thought I was going to get one the other night when I was about where you were, on a lipless crank myself. Either my knot was bad or my drag wasn't set right, because as soon as I felt the fish on, it felt like the lure was ripped off the line. Very disappointing...


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## zooks (Feb 4, 2011)

Just curious ......... what kind of rod / reel / line combination were you using? Were you trying for the big ones or were you looking for something smaller and surprised?


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## GarrettMyers (May 16, 2011)

There's no way that fish is 30 lbs. It is 29 7/8 at best.... haha nice catch!


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## zuelkek (Jun 8, 2011)

Awesome! You look beat, but the fish looks worse. That had to have been fun.


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## Roscoe (Jul 22, 2007)

Good catch!I like to see those Big Catfish.



Roscoe


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## Crappieman420 (Apr 5, 2011)

Great catch

LAND BIG FISH !!!


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## Dandrews (Oct 10, 2010)

zooks said:


> Just curious ......... what kind of rod / reel / line combination were you using? Were you trying for the big ones or were you looking for something smaller and surprised?


I was using 7&#8217; medium action spinning combo, w/10 lb line. I&#8217;m normally after smallmouth, saugeye or whatever hits, when it&#8217;s hot like it&#8217;s been sometimes I&#8217;ll target gar. 
Last year I started catching flatheads on crank baits fairly frequently, sometimes some nice ones but usually less than half of this size. 
I wasn&#8217;t shocked to catch a flathead but this one dwarfs the other ones I&#8217;ve caught, even the nice ones.


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## SMBHooker (Jan 3, 2008)

That's some kind of sweet looking river monster! 

Ever impressive!!! Way to go and congrats on the PB.


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## treytd32 (Jun 12, 2009)

dan the man! great fish, congratulations. you burn em up with those lipless cranks


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## dmaphukn (Apr 3, 2009)

Did you get a new camera?

D.


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## Dandrews (Oct 10, 2010)

dmaphukn said:


> Did you get a new camera?
> 
> D.


LOLyea, I got a new one at Big Lots.and I got a dry box.


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## Dandrews (Oct 10, 2010)

GarrettMyers said:


> There's no way that fish is 30 lbs. It is 29 7/8 at best.... haha nice catch!


I was half way expecting someone to say something about that...LOL.
If you use the formula (length x girth x girth)/800 it actually comes up to about 32 ¼ but my Berkeley scale said 30 lbs. and I think 2 oz.


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## MIKE*A (Apr 12, 2009)

Congratulations on your PB! That's a beast!

Mike


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## QueticoMike (Sep 25, 2008)

Nice kitty!


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## oldstinkyguy (Mar 28, 2010)

Thats a gorgeous fish Dan. Congrats


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## pendog66 (Mar 23, 2005)

yeah buddy!!!! congrats on the PB. That fish looks like hes been through a war


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## Fish O N (Jul 9, 2012)

Very nice catch


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## catfish chaser (Aug 29, 2011)

Man, that's a really nice fish, coongrats

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## backupbait (Nov 4, 2010)

Congrats Dan! That is awesome!!


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