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Flathead Catfish record holders. Learn the catfishing secrets used to boat monster Flathead Catfish

1st place image

Rockfordflathunter's 49 Pound Flathead
Member Name
Erich Brown
BOC Screen Name
Rockfordflathunter
BOC Join Date
January, 2008
Catfish Catch Date
June 3, 2008
State Caught In
Illinois
Body of Water Fished
Rock River
Catfish Species
Flathead Catfish
Catfish Weight
49 Pounds
Rod Used
Glowstick 8'  M/H
Reel Used
ABU Garcia 7000 Big Game
Line Test & Type
Suffix Elite 30 Lb Mono
Hook Used
8/0 King Kahle
Bait Used
Rock Bass
Approx. Time Caught
10:17 PM
Air Temperature
60o
Weather Conditions
Cloudy
Bite Activity Rating
10 - Great - Catfish Really Biting
Boat or Bank Fishing
Boat Fishing
Fish Tale of the Catch:
Took my dad fishing for the first time this year. We were moving alot about every 30 minutes or so.About 9:45 we were fishing the top side of bridge pillars and he landed his first of the year about 8 lbs .5 minutes later my rod buckled over in the rod holder that had a 8inch rock bass on it and the fight was on! Took about 20 minutes to get him in the boat pulled over to the shore snapped the pics and off he went!!!


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Flathead catfish 2nd place image
 

hickshh with Flathead Catfish

Member Name
Harold Hicks
BOC Screen Name
Hickshh
BOC Join Date
February, 2006
Catfish Catch Date
September 10, 2006
State Caught In
Illinois
Body of Water Fished
Mississippi River
Catfish Species
Flathead Catfish
Catfish Weight
44 Pounds
Rod Used
Shakespear Tiger M/H Action
Reel Used
Tidewater 30L Baitcaster
Line Test & Type            Offshore Angler 35 lb Braid with Cajun Red 20 lb Mono Leader
Hook Used
Gamakatsu 7/0 Circle
Bait Used
Shad with tail cut of and belly cut open
Approx. Time Caught
2:00 PM
Air Temperature
76
Weather Conditions
Clear and Sunny with light wind
Bite Activity Rating
3
Boat or Bank Fishing
Boat
Fish Tale of the Catch:

I went out about 7am.. Tried my usual spots with no bites.. I moved to west side of Island and slowly worked my way upriver. Got a few hits and caught a couple small Channel Cats.. Went to the east side of island about halfway down the island about 100 ft out in 16 ft of water.. No structure on bottom but I seen a big fish on fishfinder so I dropped anchor and figure I would try one more spot before I called it a day.. I baited up and put the 1st pole out.. I had just got the 2nd pole out when the 1st one took off.. I picked up pole and started reeling in.. I thought I had about a 20 pounder on till I got him to the top of the water and seen him.. It took me about 20 minutes to land him.. It was my 1st flathead and my personal best catfish. Took pictures and turned him loose to fight another day.



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Flathead catfish 3rd place image

NO ENTRY SUBMITTED
Member Name
BOC Screen Name
BOC Join Date
Catfish Catch Date
State Caught In
Body of Water Fished
Catfish Species
Catfish Weight
Rod Used
Reel Used
Line Test & Type
Hook Used
Bait Used
Approx. Time Caught
Air Temperature
Weather Conditions
Bite Activity Rating
Boat or Bank Fishing
Fish Tale of the Catch:


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Blue Catfish record holders

Blue Catfish 1st place image

Rob & Blue Catfish image
Member Name
Rob
BOC Screen Name
TeamCatHazzard
BOC Join Date
February 2005
Catfish Catch Date
May, 2005
State Caught In
Illinois
Body of Water Fished
Mississippi River
Catfish Species
Blue Catfish
Catfish Weight
55 Lbs.
Rod Used
Reel Used
Abu Garcia 7000
Line Test & Type100 Lb. Power Pro Mono
Hook Used
Info N/A
Bait Used
Skipjack Head
Approx. Time Caught
12:00 AM
Air Temperature
Mid 40s
Weather Conditions
Clear Night
Bite Activity Rating
7
Boat or Bank Fishing
Boat Fishing
Fish Tale of the Catch:
A couple buddies and I were fishing a grainery around the Alton, IL - St. Louis, MO area and I decided to put a big ole piece of a skipjack head on. I started to get a bunch of little taps on my rod. I watched it for a while and all of a sudden the bait alert just started singing. I grabbed it and set the hook and it was on. The current was running about 3mph at the time so it was a good fight. Got him to the boat took a bunch of pictures and let him go to fight again another day just like all big ones should be! It was a blast!


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Blue catfish 2nd place image

Blue Catfish entered by RIVER-Rat
Member Name
Bill Rowe
BOC Screen Name
RIVER-RAT
BOC Join Date
October, 2005
Catfish Catch Date
March 30, 2008
State Caught In
Illinois
Body of Water Fished
Mississippi River
Catfish Species
Blue Catfish
Catfish Weight
50 lbs.
Rod Used
7'10" Surge Elite MH
Reel Used
Abu Garcia 7000i
Line Test & Type
80# Power Pro
Hook Used
8/0 Gamakatsu
Bait Used
Skip Jack Fillet
Approx. Time Caught
about 2 PM
Air Temperature
520
Weather Conditions
Clear
Bite Activity Rating
4
Boat or Bank Fishing
Boat Fishing
Fish Tale of the Catch:
I was pre-fishing for the Gateway Classic Tourney and found a long wing dike that stretched along a chute on the IL bank of the Mississippi. I set up on it and started fishing. I had tossed that particular line out on the left in about 12-15 feet of water when I saw the rod tip bouncing a little bit. Ryan, stlcatman, said "there's a fish on there". I didn't believe him because there was very little action on the rod. I got off the seat and walked up to the rod rack and noticed that the line was moving across the river, I grabbed the rod and started reeling in and then the fight was on! A short fight later, Ryan netted this pig, after my net handle broke while trying to lift it into the boat!! The fish weighed an even fifty pounds!! We got pics and set her loose!


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Blue Catfish 3rd place image

Blue catfish entered by bwhupp
Member Name
Brian Hupp
BOC Screen Name
bwhupp
BOC Join Date
July, 2007
Catfish Catch Date
May 17, 2008
State Caught In
Illinois
Body of Water Fished
Baldwin Lake
Catfish Species
Blue Catfish
Catfish Weight
21 lbs.
Rod Used
Black and Blue Custom, 7'6", M-H
Reel Used
Okuma Stratamaster 45D
Line Test & Type
30lb Dacron Braid
Hook Used
8/0 Gamakatsu
Bait Used
Cut Shad
Approx. Time Caught
PM
Air Temperature
750
Weather Conditions
Clear Sky, 15-20 mph winds
Bite Activity Rating
4
Boat or Bank Fishing
Boat Fishing
Fish Tale of the Catch:
The winds were getting bad at Baldwin. Those of you who know Baldwin Lake, it doesn't take it long to become very treacherous and dangerous. The water was just starting to white cap and the day's action was not too good. We only landed a couple of fish in 6 hours of fishing. When the water was getting terrible and we were about to pack it in, my rod doubled over in the rod holder. I was busy tearing down my other rod when it happened until my father pointed at my rod hollering at me. I quickly grabbed hold of the rod and took it out of the driftmaster only to think that it was stuck on the bottom. It didn't seem to budge until suddenly it became slack. I figured the hook broke free from some underwater structure until my line kept getting slack no matter how fast I reeled. It wasn't until my line counter said 12 yards did the fish take off the other direction and peeled off some drag. He only had one good run before he gave up and he was netted.


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Channel Catfish record holders

1st place image

Catfish4uandme and his channel catfish

Member Name
Jeremy Rich
BOC Screen Name
cats4uandme
BOC Join Date
August, 2005
Catfish Catch Date
August 15, 2005
State Caught In
Illinois
Body of Water Fished
Clinton Lake
Catfish Species
Channel Catfish
Catfish Weight
13 Pounds
Rod Used
Catfish Ugly Stick MH
Reel Used
ABU 5500 CL3
Line Test & Type                    20 lb Stren High Impact
Hook Used
5/6 Gamakatsu Circle Hook
Bait Used
Cut Shad
Approx. Time Caught
8:00 PM
Air Temperature
Mid 70's
Weather Conditions
Clear Night
Bite Activity Rating
8
Boat or Bank Fishing
Boat
Fish Tale of the Catch:

 This fish was caught in the hot water discharge fishing against current. The fish hit the shad and ran at the boat. I was attached to the cable and the fish went under the boat to other side of cable. The cable has sharp freys and to avoid line breakage i had to dunk rod and reel under the cable leaning over the boat. The fish fought for close to 15 min.


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2nd place image


Member Name
Randy Ferris
BOC Screen Name
Fishnfwl
BOC Join Date
August, 2007
Catfish Catch Date
May 20, 2008
State Caught In
Illinois
Body of Water Fished
Carlyle Lake
Catfish Species
Channel Catfish
Catfish Weight
9 Pounds
Rod Used
Ugly stick 7' M/H
Reel Used
Ambassdeur 5500
Line Test & Type           Spiderwire 80 lb Test
Hook Used
5/0 Red Sickle (WildWolf)
Bait Used
Shad Head
Approx. Time Caught
4:10 PM
Air Temperature
63
Weather Conditions
Showers, sunny, cloudy, Mixed off and on all day 10-15 mph west wind
Bite Activity Rating
8
Boat or Bank Fishing
Boat
Fish Tale of the Catch:

Well we actually started the day off going for Crappie, after getting nothing but some small channel cat, So we quickly netted some shad and swapped out the equipment to catfish. Was in the process of taking another smaller fish off when this one hit, set hook on him and dome the hold one rod and work on the other routine, LOL. All in all it was a great day after changing over to catfishing. Not a monster by any means but still a nice fish in my book. was a good birthday gift that day!
 


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3rd place image

NO ENTRY SUBMITTED
Member Name
BOC Screen Name
BOC Join Date
Catfish Catch Date
State Caught In
Body of Water Fished
Catfish Species
Catfish Weight
Rod Used
Reel Used
Line Test & Type
Hook Used
Bait Used
Approx. Time Caught
Air Temperature
Weather Conditions
Bite Activity Rating
Boat or Bank Fishing
Fish Tale of the Catch:


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