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Pre-Front Monster Hunt 1-28 800 lbs of Tanks #14613587 01/30/23 12:43 PM
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 3,435
🍀El Gato Azul🍀 Offline OP
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We headed to the lake Saturday to finally fish the Pre-front conditions. Had it set in my mind to get my son another Jr Lake Record on a different lake. The motto on our boat is go big or go home and that is how we fish this time of year. I knew that after the cold snap we had this past week it would push the bigger fish deep and 2 days after the front they would start to spread back out. Big front approaching and the big fish should be wanting to feed.

Got on the water at 7am as the sun was coming up. Hit the throttle and on my 23 ft bay and my Honda 225 started humming and off we go. Wind was already blowing and we got to our spot as fast as we could. As soon as we came off plane the graph lit up with those beautiful returns of sandbass piled up. I immediately see a monster catfish on side image and it’s all I need to see. No need for scanning, it’s go time. I scale some ridiculous sized baits on my Nic’s Knacks Custom bait board and hang em on my Minotaur Hooks. Those size baits that are so big you can’t help but smile when you look at them and can only cast them 10 yards due to their weight. 12/0 Big Sue in the nose and 10/0 Carolina Smasher behind the dorsal fin. Demon Dragon Brutes to call in the pigs and float these monster baits. Carolina Lake Weights to complete the perfect Lake Monster rig. I deploy my Parks Planer boards in 39 ft of water and start dragging. I’m feeling confident we’re going to get it done

30 minutes in and nothing. I’ve gone over at least 15 huge fish on my side image and nothing. Then finally a tap tap takedown. Fish on! 6 lb dink in the boat. The skunk is off but not what we came for! 2 minutes later boom! 25 lbr in the boat. 10 more minutes and my Mad Katz rod gets slammed! Tank on I yell! It’s still too cold so Jaxon stays under his blanket. 46 lbr in the boat. 5 minutes later another rod gets smoked and Action Jaxon finally decides he wants in on the action. 34 lbr on deck. Now we’re starting to do something. First drift was a short one so we pulled up and made a move to hit a longer line.

We’re live streaming and there are 20 or so people watching us fish by this point. Some are asking me not to move spots. Some are demanding me not to move spots. One guy asked why would I move to a different area with the fish I just caught? I tell them I t’s all about the wind and I want to head for a pocket the wind is blowing into I call a funnel. I move about a half mile east and as soon as I came off plane the graph lit up like the forth of July! I see 3 monsters on the graph! Game time!

We set up on em quick and 3 minutes in a a Mad Katz get destroyed. Fish on and Action Jaxon is on it! My 7 yr old son can get down on these big fish and in no time he had it up next to the boat. 44 lbs. 20 minutes go by and I notice a planer board has moved 30 yards back to the boat. I know this must be a big fish so I crank down and start bringing in 3 other lines. This had to have been a big fish that swam back towards the boat and crossed everything. I never felt it though so I start bringing everything in to untangle what is now 5 rods. I get 3 untangled and see the line moving off at a high rate of speed! Fish on! Action Jaxon is on it! He battles it for a good 10 minutes and gets it to the back of the boat and I yell it’s a monster! You got the Jr Lake Record! I get it in my net and on on the deck.! 52 lbs and the New Jr Lake Record!

We proceeded to catch 40 after 40 all day long. We tripled up on 40s and 50s 2 different times and got em all in! At one point we had 5 monsters on! Fish after fish were hitting the deck and most were toads. At one point we hung into a fish that was a completely different class of fish. I’m talking a drag stripping, rod tip in the water, type fish that just felt so much different than the 50s snd 60s I’m used to catching. I couldn’t even get the rod out of the rod holder for 5 seconds it was so massive. Jaxon runs over and I stick the rod in the rod holder and I yell Lake Record! We got the Lake Record. 15 seconds into the fight it rips the hook and becomes a fish tale.

5 more minutes pass and a rod goes down like it’s hung. I take it out of the rod holder and try to unhang it. I tell my live stream I think I caught someone’s pants! Maybe it’s a crappie condo, maybe it’s a Christmas tree. I wench it all the way to the back of the boat and start to drag it to the surface and I say what the heck am I hung on? All of a sudden I finally feel a tail whip and off it goes! It’s a fish I yell, it’s a fish! 10 minute battle and I’m looking at one of the most beautiful catfish I’ve ever seen! Black as night, not just a dark Bluecat like it’s been up shallow but actually monochrome black and 49 lbs!

We finished the day tripling up on a 40, 48, 55 and Jaxon broke the Jr Lake Record one more time with the 55, his 3rd record breaker of the day. Big fish went 52, 55, 49, 48, 47, 46, 44, 40, 40, 40, 40, 39, 37 , 32, 30, 30, 25, 22, 20, 20, 19, 18 Epic trip of 800 lbs in the boat and almost topped our 900 lb trip from last season. Chaos Catfishing at its finest! The El Gato Azul way!🍀🍀🍀

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Last edited by 🍀El Gato Azul🍀; 01/30/23 06:39 PM.

There is a fine line between fishing and floating around like an idiot!!
texas Check out out my YouTube channel El Gato Azul TV texas
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg0aV-uOxzxKxeqFFfREzKg
⚓️⚓️⚓️⚓️ Home of little boys holding big catfish! ⚓️⚓️⚓️⚓️
Wet Rooster Jigs Fishing Super Store
Re: Pre-Front Monster Hunt 1-28 [Re: 🍀El Gato Azul🍀] #14613622 01/30/23 01:19 PM
Joined: Dec 2020
Posts: 1,405
Catfish Tim Offline
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Dang! Leave some for the rest of us will ya!? You are starting the year on a roll dude! Keep it up!


Catfish Tim
🐟🐟"If it doesn't have whiskers, it's just bait"🐟🐟
Romans 8:1

Re: Pre-Front Monster Hunt 1-28 [Re: 🍀El Gato Azul🍀] #14613627 01/30/23 01:25 PM
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 961
R
Rowdy Offline
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Posts: 961
El Gato,

That boy of yours has some kind of life man. Heck he even looks like a good young man, so many of the younger people I have seen around here, from a glance in passing I can't tell if their male or female. Worse than that, some I see, not even sure what they are, or want to be...I would say your doing really well.

Now, the next chapter here, you need to adopt, and more importantly ME ! LOL

These fish are amazing Lavon has indeed been showing her stuff.

Re: Pre-Front Monster Hunt 1-28 [Re: 🍀El Gato Azul🍀] #14613698 01/30/23 02:19 PM
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 2,149
B
Blue Blazer 2400 Offline
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Absolutely stellar trip. Days like that are few and far between but thats what keeps us going.

I ended up going to Twok and found fish piled up in 34' and bait everywhere. Thirty minutes into my first drift a MadKatz about touches the water and the fish wouldn't move. I knew it was big after about 5 minutes it surfaces and I hadn't seen a tail that big in a long time. Got it in the net and my scale finally locked in a weight of 58.96 pounds. I thought I had my new PB but I missed it by just a little over a pound. My PB is 60. Then nothing after that./

Made a move further south and got a 32 and a 25.

Made another move and graphed some big fish but nothing would eat.

Went back to the first place and the fish had scattered but managed to put some high teeners in the boat and called it a day.

Re: Pre-Front Monster Hunt 1-28 [Re: 🍀El Gato Azul🍀] #14613724 01/30/23 02:32 PM
Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 131
Bradsr82 Offline
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Absolutely crushed them! Those are the days we all dream about. You guys make quite the team. I can’t wait to get my kids involved. Congrats to both of you! Just incredible!!

Re: Pre-Front Monster Hunt 1-28 [Re: 🍀El Gato Azul🍀] #14613753 01/30/23 02:53 PM
Joined: Sep 2020
Posts: 866
Bluecat Bob Offline
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Wow, that is just cat'n at a whole different level.

I would have called it a (good) day after catching a quarter of that haul. You must have been 'cream cracker'ed (that's Brit for knackered) at the end of that day.

I wonder how big the one that got away was.....

The Lake record for Bluecat is 66 pounds, a 49 inch long beast caught by David Downs in January 2005.

You can be sure that lake holds some huge monsters bigger than that....

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Last edited by Bluecat Bob; 01/30/23 07:41 PM.

Retired from the grind and enjoying life and the great outdoors ### Formerly Texas Brit ###
Re: Pre-Front Monster Hunt 1-28 [Re: 🍀El Gato Azul🍀] #14613953 01/30/23 05:36 PM
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 3,435
🍀El Gato Azul🍀 Offline OP
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We left the biggest one in there for you and Wyatt buddy! I’ve caught lots of 60s and 70s and this fish was pulling harder than any fish I’ve landed. How big we’ll never know but I was immediately yelling Lake Record and you will never hear me say that unless it’s going to be close. They were all CPR’ed to fight another day all went back down to the bottom so others can experience the excitement of catching big fish. CPR is the only way.

Thanks Matt! Sounds like y’all did pretty good to me. 58 lbr most guys only dream of catching a fish like that! You’re getting spoiled brother!

Thanks Rowdy! Action Jaxon the Texas Tornado is as wild as they come but I love that kid to pieces and wouldn’t have it any other way. I don’t know how many times someone has told me that kid is all boy but it’s is a lot. I’m raising him to be tough kid and I am so blessed to have a kid who wants to go fishing with me in any condition. He has never said no, not once. As far as adopting another one I’m getting too old for this $hiz! Lol. You’re welcome to come fish with us any time buddy. I have never told someone no that wanted to come fish. I even take folks I see at the ramp that ask if they can jump on.

Thanks Brad! We only get one or 2 trips like that a year but those are the trips that make us dream of slimed up jackets and blown out voices from hootin and hollering all day. Fishing with kids is a blessing and getting your own kids involved in the outdoors is about the best thing a dad can do. It’s not easy by any means, and you lose a ton of big fish in the process, but the reward is immeasurable and the memories made are priceless!

Thanks Bob! A trip like that is a culmination of many things that have to intersect at the right time. Right time, right place, right rig, right bait, right presentation, right experience, and right luck. The monster that we missed I’m
guessing was high 70s at a minimum. It’s still swimming in that lake for a reason. 95% of anglers are not ready for a fish like that. If you don’t have a perfect hookup a fish with that kind of power will rip a hook right out of its flesh. I’m geared up for 100 lb fish in hopes that one day I will have an opportunity to land one. I do believe there are a few hundos swimming in some of our fisheries but most anglers are just not geared up right to land one so they get away. True giants have tricks that most blues don’t have.


Last edited by 🍀El Gato Azul🍀; 01/30/23 07:27 PM.

There is a fine line between fishing and floating around like an idiot!!
texas Check out out my YouTube channel El Gato Azul TV texas
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg0aV-uOxzxKxeqFFfREzKg
⚓️⚓️⚓️⚓️ Home of little boys holding big catfish! ⚓️⚓️⚓️⚓️
Re: Pre-Front Monster Hunt 1-28 [Re: 🍀El Gato Azul🍀] #14614087 01/30/23 07:08 PM
Joined: Feb 2019
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skeetmaster Offline
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WOW! Chris, there's very few people out here that can pull off that kind of day. You are definitely one of the best catter's in the game. Kudos to you and Jaxon! I went back and watched the livestream and that was one of the best yet. It kinda had a slow start that quickly ramped up to pure chaos! I love how you were able to bring Josh into the livestream and have some one-on-one during the video. I hope you'll be doing more of that in the future with guys from all over the country. Pretty cool stuff man. Keep up the good work and thanks for coming on TFF and sharing with everyone. You guys are gonna own a bunch more records before it's all over with!

texas

Re: Pre-Front Monster Hunt 1-28 [Re: 🍀El Gato Azul🍀] #14614158 01/30/23 08:11 PM
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littlewheel Offline
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Wow, just wow. Best day I have ever seen anyone have. Way to go Brother !


Shannon Wheeler
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Re: Pre-Front Monster Hunt 1-28 [Re: 🍀El Gato Azul🍀] #14614635 01/31/23 02:02 AM
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Ed-n-eddy Offline
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clap thumb really, really amazing!


1987 Whaler Super Sport 17, Yamaha 90
1981 Whaler Sport 13, Johnson 50
Re: Pre-Front Monster Hunt 1-28 [Re: 🍀El Gato Azul🍀] #14614700 01/31/23 02:41 AM
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K_Dean Offline
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What a day Chris. I hope to have half that day at some point…. That’s a lot of big fish!

Re: Pre-Front Monster Hunt 1-28 [Re: 🍀El Gato Azul🍀] #14614761 01/31/23 03:39 AM
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banker-always fishing Offline
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One AWESOME POST! Nicely done. thumb


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IGFA World Record Rio Grande Cichlid. Lake Dunlap.

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Sinner's Prayer. God forgive me a sinner. I accept Jesus Christ as my Savior !
Re: Pre-Front Monster Hunt 1-28 [Re: 🍀El Gato Azul🍀] #14615075 01/31/23 02:41 PM
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 2,811
doctorxring Online Content
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Day of Days !!

Thanks for sharing this report. So happy for you your some was there to see it all !

.


You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free
Re: Pre-Front Monster Hunt 1-28 [Re: 🍀El Gato Azul🍀] #14615158 01/31/23 03:37 PM
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 3,435
🍀El Gato Azul🍀 Offline OP
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Thanks y’all👍. Still high on that slime!!


There is a fine line between fishing and floating around like an idiot!!
texas Check out out my YouTube channel El Gato Azul TV texas
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg0aV-uOxzxKxeqFFfREzKg
⚓️⚓️⚓️⚓️ Home of little boys holding big catfish! ⚓️⚓️⚓️⚓️
Re: Pre-Front Monster Hunt 1-28 [Re: doctorxring] #14615162 01/31/23 03:39 PM
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🍀El Gato Azul🍀 Offline OP
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Originally Posted by doctorxring

Day of Days !!

Thanks for sharing this report. So happy for you your some was there to see it all !

.


Thanks! Heck, Jaxon wasn’t just there to see it, he caught 3/4ths of these fish! Check the live stream, the kid was on em!

Last edited by 🍀El Gato Azul🍀; 01/31/23 03:40 PM.

There is a fine line between fishing and floating around like an idiot!!
texas Check out out my YouTube channel El Gato Azul TV texas
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg0aV-uOxzxKxeqFFfREzKg
⚓️⚓️⚓️⚓️ Home of little boys holding big catfish! ⚓️⚓️⚓️⚓️
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