# Monster Flathead



## sixate (Aug 20, 2012)

I went fishing with a buddy of mine out at Mosquito this past Sunday. We just use his canoe on the Northern end of the lake. It was an extremely calm and quiet morning. No wind, and the entire lake was dead flat even when we were done at 2pm. We mainly fish Mosquito for bass, but we'll occasionally hook a walleye or two. To be honest, I've never targeted catfish. Anyway, he finally started catching some bass with a buzzbait so I also threw one on with no luck. We generally have no problems catching bass, but that morning was tricky. I took off my buzzbait in favor of a 3 1/8" hot tiger colored Rapala Flat Rap. The water was less than two feet so I could feel the lure bouncing on the bottom. After about my 4th cast something grabbed the lure and started pulling the canoe. I knew it was something big, but I didn't realize how big the fish really was. At first I thought it was just a big carp, but the fish never surfaced, and I couldn't pull it up. Thankfully, the fish never really thrashed at all. It was more of a slow steady pull that I couldn't stop. My buddy had to stick an oar in the bottom to try to hold us in place. Since we were really close to the northern tip of the island we both knew we would have to get to solid ground to get that sucker in. After making it to shore I had to fight with it for another 20 minutes until it was close enough to pull in by hand. I still can't believe how big it was. I had no way of measuring other than stepping one foot in front of each other, and measuring my shoes when I got home. I wear a size 14 so my shoes are 12 7/8" long. I took 4 complete steps one in front of the another, and after the fourth step there was at least another 3-4 inches in front of my foot. That would put it right around 54-56 inches, and I would put any amount of money on the fish weighing well over 60 pounds. It was a monster, and we were both pretty shocked considering how shallow the water was and that a huge flathead went after that lure. I still can't believe I didn't break my 8 pound line.

You can see how huge the fish is compared to my friends feet. I really wish I would have taken more pics, but in the excitement of catching the beast I wasn't really concerned with taking a bunch of pics. We tried like crazy to get the lure out of his mouth, but it was so far down there we had no way of getting to it so we had to cut the line, and we let him go.


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## 84sylvan70hp (Aug 22, 2012)

Cant see the pics. But according to your post, it sounds nice!


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## buckzye11 (Jul 16, 2009)

Holy cow! thats amazing


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## moosejohn (Feb 25, 2010)

now that is a fish story congrats on such a fine fish 8 lb test what a hoot! your gonna fish a long time to top that!


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## exide9922 (Aug 9, 2010)

wow!!! mosquito sure does have some monsters. hopefully it survives with that lure stuck in it's throat. maybe it'll rust out


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## Wow (May 17, 2010)

That's a granddaddy! Nice catch. --Tim


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## Fisherman 3234 (Sep 8, 2008)

Congrats on a monster Flatty!!!


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## sixate (Aug 20, 2012)

Thanks everyone, I may never catch anything that big again so I'm pretty proud of catching it. Since I had so much fun catching that beast I'm trying to learn more about fishing for big cats like that. I wish I could have got that lure out of it's mouth.


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## SMBHooker (Jan 3, 2008)

Crazy Nice!!!! Way to go!!


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## Jbass (Jul 28, 2012)

that is the biggest catfish i have ever heard of with proof of the catch cant belive ur line didnt snap


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

holy CRAP!!!! I hope you put in for some type of line class record on that beast! GREAT CATCH!!!!!!


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## Curtis937 (Sep 17, 2010)

Nice catfish.....that's a shovel right? Coulda been a new state record if so....right now its around 75#.....

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## metalman213 (Apr 9, 2012)

What a great catch!! and on that line !!!!!!! amazing


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## Lawman60 (May 17, 2010)

Really great job! It's so good to hear that you released that sow too. It has a good chance of surviving a small bait like you were using. It's sometimes hard to guess when to stop digging to get out a hook and when to give up and let nature take her course.You did what I would have done, and I think it's the right thing. I've fished Mosquito for flats now for over 30 years, and my "no BS" largest was #47. Yours looks much larger, so I agree with your weight guess pretty close. One warning however...there're addictive!

PS: I think the state record is 79 and a half lbs. it was taken at Clendening back in the late 70's.


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## All Eyes (Jul 28, 2004)

WOW!!! Congrats on a real beast! One you won't ever forget. Even tho you only took the one picture, you can easily tell it's huge. Thanks for sharing the story and pic! Just awesome.


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## JimmyMac (Feb 18, 2011)

I'd say your guess of over 60lbs is pretty good, that thing is a beached whale... 

I've been targeting catfish nearly 18 years now and haven't got one that size yet. 

There are a bunch of hardcore catfisherman on this site, all of which would call that fish a trophy no doubt about it. Just curious, did you release it?


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## Mushijobah (May 4, 2004)

That's massive....any more pics? I agree, 60 lbs easy.


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## bulafisherman (Apr 11, 2004)

Holy cats, looks like moby dick! Congratulations, even more impressive is landing it on 8 lb test fishing out of a canoe,that's a catch you will remember the rest of your life.

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## sixate (Aug 20, 2012)

I've told the story to everyone I know over the past week, and everyone always think I'm lying about the size so I show them that pic, and they're all even more amazed that my line didn't snap. I guess I got lucky because the fish never went into a thrashing frenzy. I just took my time and brought it in slow.

Looking back at that day I'm extremely mad at myself that I didn't take more pics or call over to the bait-shop to see if someone could run out there to get an official measurement and weight. Heck, normally neither one of us take our phones because if we screwed up and tip the canoe we don't want to ruin them. When I was digging through my bag of stuff looking for something to try to get the lure out of its mouth I realized I dropped my phone in my backpack on accident. I pulled it out and took a quick pic, and that was it. I went back to trying to get that lure out. We each picked it up just to see how heavy it was, high fived each other a few times, hollered like a couple of kids, and cut the line to let him go because we realized we had no way to get the lure out. I certainly didn't want to kill a fish that size so I didn't want to mess around with it for too long after a long fight to land it. We just got caught up in the excitement and didn't really think about getting a real weight because we knew we couldn't handle a fish that size in a canoe unless we were willing to kill it. 

At least I have one hell of a story and one pic to prove it.


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## esox62 (May 19, 2006)

that is truly an incredible catch..congrats to you pal..i think all your "guestimates" are accurate..fantastic catch..!!


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## All Eyes (Jul 28, 2004)

Just be thankful you got at least one picture. Can you imagine telling people the story without it? No one is doubting you after seeing that thing. It's actually a good pic and quite obvious that it's no weird camera angle that makes it appear bigger than it is. That is a rare monster catch in anyones book. Congrats and good job releasing it!


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## t.stuller (Feb 25, 2010)

That's a huge flathead! Congrats!


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## Cornelius74d (Jul 29, 2012)

What would a fish that size taste like? If you were to keep it that is. I have heard they aren't good eating at that size... Congrats on the catch though, MONSTER!


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## Bassbme (Mar 11, 2012)

I know it's been said over and over again but HOLY CRAP !!!! LOL I can imagine seeing it for the first time LOL It would be like...... what am I supposed to do now LOL On 80 lb. test line that would have been an epic battle......... on 8 lb test line ???......... dude you got skills LOL And a whole lot of luck lol

Job well done........Your name isn't Ishmael is it? LOL


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## Bassbme (Mar 11, 2012)

I'm still amazed at the size of that fish !!! I'm sure you've already done it, but I had to do it for myself..... I Googled what the weight of a fish that size would be...... I looked at a website from the Missouri Department of Conservation. They list an anticipated weight of a 54" Flathead at 75.28 lbs, and a 56" one at 84.34 lbs. That fish looks like it fits within those parameters to me.

You need to name that canoe the Pequod. LOL


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## Socom (Nov 3, 2005)

Awesome catch. How long did it take you to settle down after letting that thing go? I know there had to be some serious adrenaline going, especially after getting the fish close enough to see.


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## IGbullshark (Aug 10, 2012)

sixate said:


> Looking back at that day I'm extremely mad at myself that I didn't take more pics or call over to the bait-shop to see if someone could run out there to get an official measurement and weight.


Nice catch! unfortunately i believe all possible state records are required to be frozen so an official state rep can make an official measurement. either way, that thing is a monster


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## Tatonka (Aug 23, 2007)

IGbullshark said:


> Nice catch! unfortunately i believe all possible state records are required to be frozen so an official state rep can make an official measurement. either way, that thing is a monster


I thought a fish just had to be weighed on a certified scale since weight is all that matters?
I used to work in a meat market, a few times guys brought some big saugeyes into the store and we would weigh them for them but they were always shy of a new record


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## slimdaddy45 (Aug 27, 2007)

Cornelius74d said:


> What would a fish that size taste like? If you were to keep it that is. I have heard they aren't good eating at that size... Congrats on the catch though, MONSTER!


Well I can tell ya that they are good eating I ate a 56.5# years ago that was good but I soaked it in salt water for a couple days before we ate some of it you would'nt believe how much oil was on top of the water but now days I dont keep any fish since Ive lost the taste for fish it was the fish in my avatar


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## slimdaddy45 (Aug 27, 2007)

Lawman60 said:


> Really great job! It's so good to hear that you released that sow too. It has a good chance of surviving a small bait like you were using. It's sometimes hard to guess when to stop digging to get out a hook and when to give up and let nature take her course.You did what I would have done, and I think it's the right thing. I've fished Mosquito for flats now for over 30 years, and my "no BS" largest was #47. Yours looks much larger, so I agree with your weight guess pretty close. One warning however...there're addictive!
> 
> PS: I think the state record is 79 and a half lbs. it was taken at Clendening back in the late 70's.


State record is 76.5#


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## slimdaddy45 (Aug 27, 2007)

Its definetly over 60 the one in my avatar was 46.5'' long and weighed 56.5# and it was weighed on a certified scale that fish is filled out pretty good so I would say close to 70 definetly a nice hog congrats on the catch of a lifetime the 56.5 is my biggest so far and I have'nt even come close to it since and I caught it in the early 90's


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## FishLaughAtMe (Mar 30, 2012)

WOW!!!!!! Nice.


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## sixate (Aug 20, 2012)

Socom said:


> Awesome catch. How long did it take you to settle down after letting that thing go? I know there had to be some serious adrenaline going, especially after getting the fish close enough to see.


The biggest rush of adrenaline was when I first saw the fish. It never surfaced, and the water was too dirty to see how big it was. As soon as I got it on shore I couldn't believe it. Me and my buddy had the same reaction.... "Holy F**k!!" We couldn't believe that I actually pulled something in that large with only 8 pound line.. . Even after I released it we just hung out on the island for a while because we couldn't believe how big that flatty was. It's certainly a day I doubt I'll ever forget.


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## KSUFLASH (Apr 14, 2004)

Congrats on a great fish!


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## Dandrews (Oct 10, 2010)

Holy crap!!!!!!!! That thing looks like a seal!! Congratulations!!


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