Nothing like a flathead bite on a jig. 25 1/4 pounds on a 5/16oz finesse jig on a 7' MH/XF LTB and a 200E7 with 14lb Red Label at a little local lake.

 

 

That's awesome!  I know there are cats in the lakes I fish (although I haven't personally caught one) but I'd be really surprised if they got that big.

I have always wanted a kitty that big or bigger. I bet the fight is awesome

I have always wanted a kitty that big or bigger. I bet the fight is awesome

It really is a great fight from flatheads that size. I was only using a 7' MH rod with 14lb Red Label fluoro and there are several brushpiles close by, so it was a fine balance between putting as much heat as I could on it to keep it away from the wood that they love to run to so much and not popping the line with too much pressure. I've caught bunches of them that size while fishing for flatheads but it seems every year I catch a few while fishing for bass and 99% of the time it's on a jig. I've caught them on a little bit of everything though, even had a 5 or 6 pound flathead suck down a buzzbait one night, that was a shocker. It isn't an extremely long fight like a big blue but the power that big, square tail can produce is incredible and the bite when one inhales a jig is unmistakable. 

I caught a 17lb channel cat the other day on a jerkbait while fishing for smallies and I thought that was big. But your flathead makes that look small. The head shot really demostrates the size of that fish.

It really is a great fight from flatheads that size. I was only using a 7' MH rod with 14lb Red Label fluoro and there are several brushpiles close by, so it was a fine balance between putting as much heat as I could on it to keep it away from the wood that they love to run to so much and not popping the line with too much pressure. I've caught bunches of them that size while fishing for flatheads but it seems every year I catch a few while fishing for bass and 99% of the time it's on a jig. I've caught them on a little bit of everything though, even had a 5 or 6 pound flathead suck down a buzzbait one night, that was a shocker. It isn't an extremely long fight like a big blue but the power that big, square tail can produce is incredible and the bite when one inhales a jig is unmistakable. 

My son caught this one last spring on a t-rigged Havoc Pit Boss. We catch 5-7lb channels all the time. I've thought about going on a guided trip on the Rock River in IL which is about an hour west of me. They pull 40lb cats out of there on a regular basis.

nice fish, ive dreamed about one atleast the size for awhile now. several years ago, i was fishing with nightcrawlers for whatever i could catch. using a little zebco 33. i hooked into a flathead bigger than the one in your picture. it ate my nightcrawler on the fall and just sat there, i set the hook and it didnt move, i knew it was on. i kept telling my brother in law "this is it, this is it, i got a monster" well the fish swam right towards me, i was cranking that 33 fast as i could. i was sitting in the back of my uncles boat, it was on the lift, but it gave me better access to the water than the dock did in this cove. the fish swam under the boat and i just knew my 33 rod would snap in two as small as it is, it was bent past a U shape. i pulled it out from under the boat, it swam up and surfaced to my left in front of the dock and started rolling on top of the water. it was a huge flathead, it snapped my line while rolling and it was gone. ever since then ive been on the hunt for a catfish of great size. and ever since then all i seem to catch is mainly 18 inch 3lb channel cats no matter the bait. and i literally mean a ton of them that were exactly 18 inches and 3lbs, i dont even bother to measure or weight or photo them anymore lol. but that huge flathead i hooked is part of the reason i catfish as much as i bass fish...

I love the feeling as well- although I seem to lose the bigger ones- we usually catch at least one a year for the last couple of years like this.  Not yet this year...but usually we get them in the fall anyhow.   I have lost them this size after 30 minutes or so...this guy does not but he lets me take the picture.  Always bass or striper fishing, with bass tackle. 2011 fish

I love the feeling as well- although I seem to lose the bigger ones- we usually catch at least one a year for the last couple of years like this.  Not yet this year...but usually we get them in the fall anyhow.   I have lost them this size after 30 minutes or so...this guy does not but he lets me take the picture.  Always bass or striper fishing, with bass tackle.

2012 fish

Nice fish fry em up and throw some Louisana hot sauce on it

veryyyy nice....but eating catfish is like sucking on turds lol

2012 fish

 

Very nice! I catch at least a few flatheads every year it seems like. Biggest one I've ever caught was this guy. Not sure how much it weighed because the chain for my scale broke when I started to lift it off the bottom of the boat to weight it but I'm guessing in the 40-50 pound class.

 

Nice fish fry em up and throw some Louisana hot sauce on it

 

I'd have to catch him again to cook him, like a vast majority of the fish I catch it was turned loose shortly after the picture. 

veryyyy nice....but eating catfish is like sucking on turds lol

Flatheads are actually pretty good eating. Blues and channels can be too though. To me it depends a lot on the size of the fish and where it was caught from. Eat one from a muddy river or pond and it's bound to taste like mud and moss. Catch a smaller cat from a clean lake or river and they're pretty dang good. Some guys around here call flatheads "poor mans lobster" because of the bright white fillets and good flavor. 

Very nice! I catch at least a few flatheads every year it seems like. Biggest one I've ever caught was this guy. Not sure how much it weighed because the chain for my scale broke when I started to lift it off the bottom of the boat to weight it but I'm guessing in the 40-50 pound class.

I'd have to catch him again to cook him, like a vast majority of the fish I catch it was turned loose shortly after the picture.

Flatheads are actually pretty good eating. Blues and channels can be too though. To me it depends a lot on the size of the fish and where it was caught from. Eat one from a muddy river or pond and it's bound to taste like mud and moss. Catch a smaller cat from a clean lake or river and they're pretty dang good. Some guys around here call flatheads "poor mans lobster" because of the bright white fillets and good flavor.

Yea I am the same way 100% of the fish I catch I release. I just take a few pics then off they go.

I don't eat fish so there is no point in me keeping them.