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Epic Lake Pleasant Flathead trip!

5K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  Wouldhe 
#1 ·
I know this is a bass site. But a few people might appreciate this recap. I can't figure out how to get pictures posted but whatever. Tight lines!

What an epic fishing trip! For over 2 years I have been trying to have one of these nights. It was full of ups and downs but it was by far the best trip I have ever been on! First we got stuck in traffic in Phoenix because that place is the worst. Three cars full of teenagers were yelling and tossing random items back and forth from their red convertible mustangs in traffic. That was entertaining. When we arrived we passed a family of donkeys! Then when we launched we found out the boat was leaking through a crack that was supposed to have been repaired...sounds about right for our trips. But my buddy was able to MacGyver it with glue! Meanwhile I started fishing for bait and dropped my first bluegill back into the water... but then I landed my first ever striped bass. I met some random guy who was out of bait. I gave him a worm and he in turn caught me a bluegill. Then we got a bit lost on the water on the way to the spot. Saw some amazing sights and found a secret secluded spot away from everyone with lots of shorelines for fishing, soft ground for the pole holders and unlimited natural firewood. With the boat crack delay and us getting lost we got the campsite set up too late, so the bluegills weren’t biting anymore. I cast out the 1 live one that I had and it flew off the hook due to a reel malfunction. So no live bluegills, which is typically a death sentence for flathead fishing. At this point I thought the chances of catching a flathead was 0%. We only had worms, so I decided to throw my cast net and see what I could find. On my first cast I caught a couple tiny shad and fortunately I was able to keep finding them all night! I decided to throw a few poles out with a double dropper looper drop shot line with smaller hooks with the tiny shad figuring it might work for channel cats. Then as we were sitting down to eat the pole went off and it felt like I had something on the line but not a fish. Turned out to be a big softshell turtle. Which sucks I am a friend to turtles since I have 2 as pets. Fortunately I was able to surgically remove the hook with precision not doing any more damage and the big softy lived! We started on our amazing Ugly steaks and twice baked potatoes from Dickman Meats and then my other pole went nuts! I reeled and enjoyed a decent fight and landed an 8.5lb flathead. My 2 friends finally believed that the elusive Flatheads I had been describing for 2 years can be caught! Lol. Both of them then decided that they were willing to tie up a rig on their own poles. So they got 2 more lines out and I threw a couple more to hit our limit of 6. My 1 friend landed a 9.25 lb. flatty on his pole and then a bit later my other friend landed an 11.25 lb. on his! So that made 3 Flatheads in one night progressively larger, each man catching one on his own rig/pole. That is the trifecta! First time it has never happened for me. I didn’t think it could get any better, but it did. Those 2 went to sleep having full filled their personal fishing goals each catching their personal best fish. I got all our lines out with fresh shad and started dozing of in my chair next to the fire. I was awoken by a loud noise and pole bell…thinking I had a fish I sprinted to my pole to find my tent with all its contents in the water! The crazy winds had ripped my tent stakes out and sent the tent a good 20 feet hitting my pole and landing it just within my reach on the water. I was ankles deep in the mud dragging the thing back on shore fighting the wind, often going backwards more than forwards. After a 10 minute battle I finally broke the tent down, because there was no way it was staying up and it was full of dirty lake water. So I got to spend the night in my chair by the fire and I never fell asleep. But that worked out because another pole went off and I landed a 9.75lb flathead. Then a little later I landed an 11.75 lb. Then a bit later I snapped my 20lb line… I tried to take the bell off and I think it stopped the drag for a second… rookie mistake. I probably lost my personal best fish which at the time was 13lbs. But then shortly after that my pole keeled over and I thought it might break. I grabbed it fought it in and dragged in my new personal best 14lbs 10 ounces! In addition that made 4 flatheads in one night for me 6 in total for the group both new personal bests! I started smelling burning plastic and realized that my chair had been blown into the fire, but who cares after catching 6 flatheads totaling over 64lbs?! So I stood the rest of the morning. I caught a couple decent channels on the morning bite. Snapped a picture of the 6 flatheads then released them all safely back to our spot, so we can catch them again next year! We packed up and got out of there asap once the sun started coming up. Had a couple scares on the water. One time we all move at the same time as a wave hit and it sure felt like we almost tipped in the boat. Then we almost ran the boat into a rocky sandbar in the middle of the lake because the water level was so low. Few more struggles at the marina with the wind and our inexperience at docking boats. But we finally got back on the road. Ended the trip with a final meal of 1lb burger, cheese fries and a strawberry shake at a local diner in Chandler. Got back home safely, covered in mud, smelling strongly like fish, with my hands now the consistency of sand paper and while Lake Pleasant was anything but to us….I can’t wait to go on another Epic trip like this!
 
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#3 ·
Did I run into you at the 4 lane ramp Saturday mid-day? We had a white Spectrum fishing boat, just got off the lake. You asked me if the best way to launch the boat was to pull as far down the ramp as possible and flip a U-turn? I told you we had fished all night and lost one good flathead... you said you were from Tucson... you said you'd gone out with Flathead Ed last year, you mostly fish Patagonia, etc.
 
#6 ·
I know this is a bass site. But a few people might appreciate this recap. I can't figure out how to get pictures posted but whatever. Tight lines!

We did some Flathead fishing there a few weeks ago using live Bluegill. The first fish caught was about a 6 pound largemouth, to be followed about a half hour later with a 33 pound Flathead.

What an epic fishing trip! For over 2 years I have been trying to have one of these nights. It was full of ups and downs but it was by far the best trip I have ever been on! First we got stuck in traffic in Phoenix because that place is the worst. Three cars full of teenagers were yelling and tossing random items back and forth from their red convertible mustangs in traffic. That was entertaining. When we arrived we passed a family of donkeys! Then when we launched we found out the boat was leaking through a crack that was supposed to have been repaired...sounds about right for our trips. But my buddy was able to MacGyver it with glue! Meanwhile I started fishing for bait and dropped my first bluegill back into the water... but then I landed my first ever striped bass. I met some random guy who was out of bait. I gave him a worm and he in turn caught me a bluegill. Then we got a bit lost on the water on the way to the spot. Saw some amazing sights and found a secret secluded spot away from everyone with lots of shorelines for fishing, soft ground for the pole holders and unlimited natural firewood. With the boat crack delay and us getting lost we got the campsite set up too late, so the bluegills weren’t biting anymore. I cast out the 1 live one that I had and it flew off the hook due to a reel malfunction. So no live bluegills, which is typically a death sentence for flathead fishing. At this point I thought the chances of catching a flathead was 0%. We only had worms, so I decided to throw my cast net and see what I could find. On my first cast I caught a couple tiny shad and fortunately I was able to keep finding them all night! I decided to throw a few poles out with a double dropper looper drop shot line with smaller hooks with the tiny shad figuring it might work for channel cats. Then as we were sitting down to eat the pole went off and it felt like I had something on the line but not a fish. Turned out to be a big softshell turtle. Which sucks I am a friend to turtles since I have 2 as pets. Fortunately I was able to surgically remove the hook with precision not doing any more damage and the big softy lived! We started on our amazing Ugly steaks and twice baked potatoes from Dickman Meats and then my other pole went nuts! I reeled and enjoyed a decent fight and landed an 8.5lb flathead. My 2 friends finally believed that the elusive Flatheads I had been describing for 2 years can be caught! Lol. Both of them then decided that they were willing to tie up a rig on their own poles. So they got 2 more lines out and I threw a couple more to hit our limit of 6. My 1 friend landed a 9.25 lb. flatty on his pole and then a bit later my other friend landed an 11.25 lb. on his! So that made 3 Flatheads in one night progressively larger, each man catching one on his own rig/pole. That is the trifecta! First time it has never happened for me. I didn’t think it could get any better, but it did. Those 2 went to sleep having full filled their personal fishing goals each catching their personal best fish. I got all our lines out with fresh shad and started dozing of in my chair next to the fire. I was awoken by a loud noise and pole bell…thinking I had a fish I sprinted to my pole to find my tent with all its contents in the water! The crazy winds had ripped my tent stakes out and sent the tent a good 20 feet hitting my pole and landing it just within my reach on the water. I was ankles deep in the mud dragging the thing back on shore fighting the wind, often going backwards more than forwards. After a 10 minute battle I finally broke the tent down, because there was no way it was staying up and it was full of dirty lake water. So I got to spend the night in my chair by the fire and I never fell asleep. But that worked out because another pole went off and I landed a 9.75lb flathead. Then a little later I landed an 11.75 lb. Then a bit later I snapped my 20lb line… I tried to take the bell off and I think it stopped the drag for a second… rookie mistake. I probably lost my personal best fish which at the time was 13lbs. But then shortly after that my pole keeled over and I thought it might break. I grabbed it fought it in and dragged in my new personal best 14lbs 10 ounces! In addition that made 4 flatheads in one night for me 6 in total for the group both new personal bests! I started smelling burning plastic and realized that my chair had been blown into the fire, but who cares after catching 6 flatheads totaling over 64lbs?! So I stood the rest of the morning. I caught a couple decent channels on the morning bite. Snapped a picture of the 6 flatheads then released them all safely back to our spot, so we can catch them again next year! We packed up and got out of there asap once the sun started coming up. Had a couple scares on the water. One time we all move at the same time as a wave hit and it sure felt like we almost tipped in the boat. Then we almost ran the boat into a rocky sandbar in the middle of the lake because the water level was so low. Few more struggles at the marina with the wind and our inexperience at docking boats. But we finally got back on the road. Ended the trip with a final meal of 1lb burger, cheese fries and a strawberry shake at a local diner in Chandler. Got back home safely, covered in mud, smelling strongly like fish, with my hands now the consistency of sand paper and while Lake Pleasant was anything but to us….I can’t wait to go on another Epic trip like this!
 
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