# Blind Hog Finds an Acorn....



## jcoss15 (Oct 11, 2010)

Well a last minute decision found me and a buddy on YR looking for a flathead. After struggling to catch bait, we set out with 6 bream and a few big shiners. Got set up on our first hole and fished for about an hour with no bites then we moved. We tried another spot I noticed a while back and I wanted to try, it was a nice deep hole on the edge of a big logjam. Within about 2 minutes my buddies rod gets slammed, fish on, he fights him to the boat and I net him, nice flathead in the livewell. About 5 mins later, my rod doubles over and the fight is on, a good fish rips and tears and slips off the hook after jumping up out of the water like a striper, I was peed...A little later my buddies rod is crushed and a big fish rips out about 30 ft of line and takes him right back into the logjam like a boss, breaks him off, never to be seen. Big cats in heavy cover are heart breakers...

I landed another small flathead, and we called it a night, but considering our success on R&R we were happy with the trip...:thumbsup:


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## Bodupp (Oct 3, 2007)

Beef up your gear a little and go back and kick their ass. I'll be right here waiting on the pics. Good luck!


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## GROUPERKING (Sep 28, 2011)

Sounds like you have found a pretty good spot.


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## simpleman (Oct 20, 2007)

I hate losing fish in cover but come with the territory. Hope you get him next time. Thx for report


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## murfpcola (Aug 28, 2012)

Nice report. I want to try them one night.


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## Try'n Hard (Oct 23, 2008)

Very nice - congrats
I tried the R&R a few weeks ago and got the bejeebers scared outta me - need to give it another shot but feel like I don't know how to ID a good spot


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## Jason (Oct 2, 2007)

It happens to everyone....at least ya'll got a few!


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## gastonfish (Mar 24, 2012)

Good report! And yea it has been slow for some reason on yellow


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## CatHunter (Dec 31, 2008)

Awesome.. It smells like you are on their trail.. Heavy line is a must when flathead fishing..


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## jcoss15 (Oct 11, 2010)

gastonfish said:


> Good report! And yea it has been slow for some reason on yellow


This was only my third flathead trip of the summer, so I really cant say for sure how bad/good its been. I do know a lot more people fish for them now on YR than there used to be.


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## jcoss15 (Oct 11, 2010)

CatHunter said:


> Awesome.. It smells like you are on their trail.. Heavy line is a must when flathead fishing..


 I had 65lb braid, he had 30-40 mono I believe, That fish would have needed a winch to get out of that hole, we were right against the cover...


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## CatHunter (Dec 31, 2008)

jcoss15 said:


> I had 65lb braid, he had 30-40 mono I believe, That fish would have needed a winch to get out of that hole, we were right against the cover...


Thats channel cat tackle... Beef it up.. Anything under 100 lb braid and you are asking for trouble ask any R&R flathead fishermen lurking on this forum..


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## jcoss15 (Oct 11, 2010)

Lol, I'll take my chances...I enjoy too many different types of fishing to sink all my fishing funds into flathead gear. I'm more of a causal flatheader' I guess you could say..


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## Try'n Hard (Oct 23, 2008)

CatHunter said:


> Anything under 100 lb braid and you are asking for trouble ask any R&R flathead fishermen lurking on this forum..


Before you ask me - yeah go with the 100# stuff


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## jcoss15 (Oct 11, 2010)

haven't seen it anywhere, probably 50$ a spool...


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## CatHunter (Dec 31, 2008)

jcoss15 said:


> haven't seen it anywhere, probably 50$ a spool...


I order all my stuff offline.


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## RippinLips14 (Aug 10, 2014)

Nice fish Jake, we fished Thursday night and had two fish in the 10 pound range by 9 oclock. Within 10 minutes of catching the two the rod got slammed and we had what we thought to be a monster straighten out a 4/0 hook. my other rods had 7/0 king kahles but we lost a rig and my buddy tied another leader up quick and grabbed the 4 instead of 7. Fish was biting so we through it in and got our hear broken. The 4s held up fine on a 21 pounder a few weeks ago so we think it was a hog. Those flatheads on rod are addicting after a big one or two.


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## jcoss15 (Oct 11, 2010)

Yeah they are fun to mess with when they decide to bite, I've yet to tangle with one over 15 lbs on R&R so my current setup has held up. I use a 7' ugly stick, shimano reel with the 65 lb braid, I've been using a 5/0 hook. When this rig fails me or breaks my heart, I will upgrade. That may be crazy, but all my big fish have all come by the trusty bush hook...R&R is still a mystery at times.


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## CatHunter (Dec 31, 2008)

In the last few years I have watched at-least several dozen guys and untold amounts that have not spoken convert to Flathead fishermen and have progressed greatly with their R&R skills. One just recently boated a 50+ another group of guys landed over 150lbs of flathead on R& R in one night. 

Another one of my buddies went Saturday night who has recently become a R&R guy and landed 6 or 7 flatheads with two fish going over 40lbs.

All these guys are from right here in the Pensacola area and are on the R&R flatheads.


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## jcoss15 (Oct 11, 2010)

That's impressive for sure, I haven't graduated to that level yet. Chris and Jason representing okaloosa county, they've been hitting them hard here lately...


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## CatHunter (Dec 31, 2008)

jcoss15 said:


> That's impressive for sure, I haven't graduated to that level yet. Chris and Jason representing okaloosa county, they've been hitting them hard here lately...


I'm impressed with how quickly they have progressed..


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## jcoss15 (Oct 11, 2010)

CatHunter said:


> I'm impressed with how quickly they have progressed..


Their both good fisherman raised on the river, I think flathead fishing is really their main focus nowadays so they got good at it...Jason tells me the fish finder is the secret, I'm still fishing them blind.


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## CatHunter (Dec 31, 2008)

jcoss15 said:


> Their both good fisherman raised on the river, I think flathead fishing is really their main focus nowadays so they got good at it...Jason tells me the fish finder is the secret, I'm still fishing them blind.


Its definitely part of the arsenal. Right now you first line of defense is your main line and leader line.


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## jcoss15 (Oct 11, 2010)

CatHunter said:


> Its definitely part of the arsenal. Right now you first line of defense is your main line and leader line.


I have been using a setup I saw on your website, main line, weight, swivel, mono leader then hook...I have lost some hooks so far, but not the 5+ ounces of lead each hang up. Is that a good start?


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## CatHunter (Dec 31, 2008)

jcoss15 said:


> I have been using a setup I saw on your website, main line, weight, swivel, mono leader then hook...I have lost some hooks so far, but not the 5+ ounces of lead each hang up. Is that a good start?


Exactly the start you want. The whole trick to flathead fishing on R&R is to not lose weights. Once you lose the fear of losing all your tackles you wont be afraid to get hung anymore. 

I always say "If you aint getting hung you aint catching flatheads."

I really enjoy watching people evolve into great flathead fishermen. Thats the main reason I started running guides, not to make a living doing it but to teach people how to catch these fish on sporting tackle so they can do it on their own..


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## wormy1709 (Nov 20, 2012)

whats the secret to finding good holes? i'm brand new at R&R fishing for flatheads. I mainly fish YR near guest lake. I don't have a fish finder tho. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thnx.


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## jcoss15 (Oct 11, 2010)

wormy1709 said:


> whats the secret to finding good holes? i'm brand new at R&R fishing for flatheads. I mainly fish YR near guest lake. I don't have a fish finder tho. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thnx.


I definitely don't know the secret nor do I have a fish finder, but I have had success fishing near big log jams in the river where everything piles up against the bank on a bend. Look for jams that hold trash and debris on the top of the water, then drop your bait right outside or in front of the jam. Also the mouths of creeks or lakes off the river can produce fish. My best luck has come on moonless nights, the darker the better it seems, if there's a big moon out just stay at the house IMO...


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## gastonfish (Mar 24, 2012)

Fish finder helps in the beginning but after a while you will begin to be able to read the river and figure them out. I rarely turn mine on now.


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