I’d like to start off this extensive update congratulating a brother on not only catching his first flatheads, but catching fish on his first three reservoir trips as well as landing an absolute beast. Trey is new to flathead fishing, but has taken quickly to the work involved and has made things happen for him. Congratulations on your first fish, and also what followed as a new personal best of 47 pounds even. Onward and upward my friend, you’ve set the bar high for yourself.

Fishing had remained consistent for us throughout late August and early September. With mild, typical fall weather through the start of the month, choosing the correct fishing locations was more predictably done. On the weekend of September 1st and 2nd, I pulled a two night trip on one of our favorite reservoirs. I fished solo the first night, during the brunt of a tropical storm driven cold front. As winds shifted and weather blew in on my position around 2:30 AM, I feared I may not see much action for the night. A rolling clicker changed my mind, though, and a fish of 24 pounds found the net and came aboard the Lowjaw. Action throughout the rest of the morning remained consistent, with fish of 22, 29, and 29 pounds also making the scale. Despite no larger fish showing up to play, any night with four bites is a good one.

The following night I met my dad at the ramp for another night of fishing on the same body of water. We chose a different location this time, hoping to find some larger fish. Another juvenile fish of around 15 pounds bit before midnight, then all fell silent. The wind howled for the first portion of the night, then fell slack and the lake turned to glass. At around 6 am, the sound of steadily rolling bait clicker woke us from our sleep. After a solid hook set and a powerful fight, a nice 34 pound female flathead was netted and weighed. We were happy with this success, but crawled back into our respective sleeping locations to seek warmth for the rest of the morning. At around 7:30 AM, another clicker woke me in my tent cot. After feeling that the fish was steadily moving off with the bait, I set on it hard. Fish #3 for the night bent my XH musky rod hard as it angrily shook its head a peeled line. After an extended fight, a beautiful male fish of 41 pounds made the net. Our morning ended with one more run and a dropped bait, but largely successful overall.

On the weekend of September 8th, Joe V and I fished this same reservoir again with high hopes. After finding that the spot we originally planned to fish had been taken, we traveled to the plan B location. Baits were set and we began to layer clothing. The low for the night was projected to dip into the low 40s. At about 9:30 PM, one of our giant goldfish was inhaled and line began steadily trickling off a clicking reel. I felt that the fish was moving well, and set. The XH Warrior Cat rod bowed hard against the weight, but something felt wrong. I could feel the powerful headshakes of a flathead, but could also feel wood tangled in the line. I was able to gain some line, but wasn’t sure if the weight was mostly fish and a small stick, or mostly wood with a small fish attached. Suddenly a crisp “POP” shook through the rod handle, and the fish was gone. I reeled in the rig free of timber to find that my hook had been bent open 10-15 degrees. Disgusted, I discarded the old hook and re-rigged. The rest of the night was quiet until around 4:00 AM when a small fish of around 20 pounds came to visit. Dawn came and we packed our things, grumbling about the size of the fish that had come off earlier in the night. One thing is for certain. Fishing for any apex predator is not easy, and the odds are stacked against us from the very start. Sometimes the fish just win.

On September 15th I got to fish with a good friend named Zach. Zach’s been out of town for work for the past few years, and was excited to make it back to his old stomping grounds to do some fishing. We set up on a familiar spot of his and deployed baits. A recent warming trend had brought water temperatures up several degrees, but nothing extreme at this point. The night was kicked off early with a fish of 23 pounds coming aboard the Mudcat II. Excited with our quick success, we photographed and quickly released the fish. Unfortunately, the rest of the night went on without another bump. Any night we get to encounter a flathead is a good one, though, and time spent with good friends on the water is never wasted. Not to mention fishing from a bad ass rig like the mudcat. Zach fished again the following night, but weather conditions continued to worsen and channel cats killed baits throughout the night. This weekend would end up being the start of a ridiculous mid-September heat wave. In the weeks to come, temperatures would reach at or near record highs almost every day. Water temps would soar as afternoon highs peaked into the 90s, throwing both anglers and fish for a loop. Adapt and overcome became the game plan.

Brittan and Chuck fished together at a familiar reservoir the night of September 16th. Again, channel cats destroyed quality bait after quality bait and gave the guys little rest. Finally at around 4:00 AM, the familiar sound of steady clicking grabbed their attention. After a hard hook set and extended battle, Chuck netted one of the longest fish we’ve seen all season. The fish was thin, but had a massive head and still tipped the scales to 41 pounds and some change. After a nice grip and grin, the beast was released to keep packing on weight through the fall.

Finally, the time for our long awaited fishing marathon had come. Brittan and I had planned to fish three consecutive nights from September 21st-23rd, and had worked all week to stock up on bait. Temperatures had continued to climb throughout the week, which would end up being a major determining factor in how and where we spent our time. The first night we fished, we chose a familiar fall location that has produced quality fish for us regularly. However, it was apparent soon after deploying baits that something was wrong. Even the hardiest of baitfish species were dying almost immediately on the hook shortly after being deployed. Lively, kicking bait is paramount to flathead fishing success in reservoir systems, so the outlook was not good. We elected not to bring the boat with us on this trip and ended up taking a skunk due to a lack of mobility options and constantly dying bait. The scorching temperatures had re-stratified the water column in this area, leaving an anoxic zone anywhere near the bottom of the lake. We licked our wounds and worked to collect more bait for night number two of the trip.

While catching bait we decided that a complete change of lakes was in order per the fishing conditions. With prominent weather patterns resembling July more than late September, we decided to fish like we would at that time of year. Joe V joined us on this trip, as well as my Dad and uncle in another boat fishing a different location in the same body of water. After choosing a spot and setting baits, we settled in for the night. We had a variety of bait out in this spread, including a legal length largemouth bass over 12 inches long. The night was quiet and uneventful, and we all eventually drifted off the sleep. At 6:00 AM, several deliberate clicks from my rod with the bass on it woke us up. I picked up the rod to discover the line swinging steadily sideways. A fish had inhaled the bass and was moving parallel to our position. I reeled down to take up slack and set the hook hard. The rod bent into the lower end and shook hard as a solid fish shook its head. Brittan popped up at my side with the net, and waited patiently as I tried to tire the fish out. The fish pulled hard and took line at will on several occasions while circling around the back of the boat, rear anchor, and motor prop. Finally he surfaced, and Brittan scooped and scored. A beautiful flathead filled the net, then took up much of the free space on the floor of my boat. Another long lean fish, he tipped the scales at 40.9 pounds. We placed the fish on a bridle and tied him off for morning photos. Shortly after, one of Brittan’s rods signaled a flathead run. He set hard and the fish boiled out in the dark water. Dawn was just starting to set in, and we watched Brittan fight the fish as a dark silhouette backlit by the orange light of a rising sun. The fish fought hard but quickly tired, and I scooped him into the oversized landing net. Weighing right at 25 pounds, he was released after a quick picture. Dawn came without another bump, and we headed back to my house after taking several good shots of the 40.9 and releasing him. After inhaling a large pizza, we crashed for a few hours of recovery sleep before heading back to the lake.

Night number three was upon us before we knew it, and we worked to set baits in a new section of the lake as the sun set. We all managed to fall asleep much earlier this night, as fishing hard for several full nights in a row had taxed us mentally and physically. All remained completely silent until around 5:30 AM when one of my rods signaled a run. When I determined that the fish was steadily moving off, I set the hook hard. Complete whiff. I felt no resistance whatsoever, then reeled my bare hook into some kind of cover on the way back to the boat. Frustrated, I set my rod back into the holder and went back to sleep. This ended up being our only action of the night.

Flathead fishing continues to be as humbling as it can be rewarding. The major switch in weather patterns challenged us, but putting two nice fish in the boat made the challenge well worth it. As I write this, the winds of change are upon us. Fall weather has returned and air temperatures will drop back into the low 40’s in the nights to come. Fishing can only improve, and we look forward to the kind of nights that fall can be famous for in our part of the country. Until then, stay frosty.

Ironscale, out.