Fishing Forum

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77 pounds
Bartlett Lake
Used a 2lb carp for bait
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Damn thats a big cat. I've always wanted to catch a big ol' flathead. Looks like I need to plan a camping trip to AZ.
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Lake Havasu, and the Colorado River south of there has flatheads. Worth the drive if you're looking. They bite best in the hotter months, if you're trying to plan a trip. Big live bait at night in shallow water with submerged trees and such is best. If you are fishing the Colorado river below Havasu, try the back-waters off the main river. Bring some big tackle- a 30+lb flathead around submerged trees is gonna be tricky to land without super stout gear. They aren't line shy, so 50lb mono, or 65+ lb braid will do.
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We use to fish a aqua-duct that was fed by the Colorado river. it started at Lake Havasu and ran a little north of the Salton sea and threw Palm Springs all the way in to So Cal. We caught 35 LB cats in there a lot, so you know Lake Havasu is where they came from...
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I wouldn't mind tussling with one of those. That made me wonder why there aren't any flathead in Mead. Are the conditions not to their liking or just a matter of them never having been introduced?

I did a quick search but couldn't find any information about flatheads and Mead, save for something about a Rapala PS3 game where you need to catch one from Lake Mead as a part of a challenge. Haha.

The world angling record is [url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flathead_catfish"]123lbs 9ozs[/url] and came from Kansas. Big ol kitties!
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World Record-
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They've never been introduced. I think it may be a little bit too far North for their liking too.

Time for a road-trip!
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Interestingly enough, the world record flathead and blue catfish came pretty recently.

The Blue Cat record (which stood at 111 pounds from 1996) has been broken a few times in the past decade, first a 124 pounder, then a 130lb fish, now a 143lb fish. Biologists think that there will be a new record caught soon that weighs over 150lbs.

Tim Pruitt's 124 pound blue
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The 143 pound new record
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The old flathead record was only 92 lbs, caught in 1995. There had been reports of fish over 100 pounds, but it was the 123 pounder that took the books in 1998.

Fisheries Biologists think that lower limits, slot limits and angler conservation is helping these giant fish reach weights that haven't been seen since the 1800's and early 1900's.

I personally don't think the Colorado River is capable of producing a fish near that 100 lb mark due to forage limitations, but catching a fish over 50lbs is definitely a reality further south on the river, and even in Havasu.
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