posted by Gary on Sep 2

Tom Head with his 103 Pound Flathead Catfish

Now that is a catfish, 103 pounds, 16 inch wide mouth, man what a fish, ok well here’s the story.

Tom Head, a Warner Robins man caught a 103-pound catfish in the Ocmulgee River in Central Georgia this week.

According to a state Department of Natural Resources news release, 76-year-old Tom Head caught the flathead catfish near Warner Robins.

The fish’s dimensions:

Length: more than 57 inches;

Girth: 41 inches;

Head: 16 inches wide.

Although it’s more than 20 pounds heavier than the state’s record, it’s not eligible for the record because Head caught it while jug fishing .

The state Department of Natural Resources says flathead catfish have a flattened head, yellowish mottled with brown and green coloring, small eyes, a lower jaw that extends beyond the upper jaw and an unforked tail.

Melissa Cummings of the DNR says they estimate the catfish is about 20 years old.

The department’s naturalists will try to determine its age Friday by cutting open its pectoral fins and counting the spines, like the rings of a tree.

It will interesting to see how old this fish really is, it would be nice if they grow out that big in 20 years and I could be wrong but I’m bettin we find out he is a little older than that. Anyway, it is an awesome catch, I will be trying to reach Mr. Head to see what baits he was using and a little better idea of where was fishin’ if he is willing to release that spot, better yet I will see if I can go fishing with him. He may be on our next video, who knows. Till then  TIght Lines and Squealin’ Reels,

Gary “Gone Fishin” Turner

posted by Gary on Jul 6

We started the week out in Charleston South Carolina, I went  down to the pier at Folly Beach. There were plenty of black tip sharks to go around. Those little guys were attacking people baits. One fishermen managed to catch a nice 7 pound black drum amid all the shark attacks.

Later in the week me and 2 friends went to one of my favorite fishing spots, Santee Cooper, to fish for catfish. We arrived at Goat Island around 8:30 pm and caught a quick cheeseburger at the Goat Island Restaurant. After that we loaded the pontoon and headed out for the night. The fish were really biting slow, the water temp in the coves was 90 degrees .

We tried a few spots with no success the moved over near the old river bed and anchored up for the night. 
Around 2:00 am we had a hit on a large live 10″ gizzard shad, he hit it hard. After Brandon battled the beast in the dark we got a glimpse of him before he dove again, it was a blue catfish and it looked like a nice one. When he landed it ,we weighed it at just over 30 pounds, a very nice blue catfish and Brandon’s first over 10 pounds. Upon inspecting the blue while removing the hook we could see some serious damage on the inside of this fishes mouth, its mouth had a large wound and the body had several line scrapes. This is indicative of escaping from a trot line. After pictures we looked it over and made the decision that the fish would survive and released him back into the lake to grow and be caught another day.

Gone Fishin Club member Brandon Kohler with a nice 30 pound blue catfish.

I always encourage releasing catfish over 20 pounds unless they have been hooked in a life threatening manner or in this fishes case had other wounds, make a good evaluation and if it is doubtful that the fish will survive by al means take the fish otherwise let him go and grow.

Around 2:45 we had our next bite on a live 3″ bream, it was a solid hook up and the line was running off the spool. Tonia picked up the rod and started trying to turn the fish as she started cranking down on the reel. We scrambled to get the other lines out of the way or out of the water as she drew the big fish closer to the boat. Finally when the fish was landed we got to see the nice flathead. It weighed in at 22 pounds and after pictures we put it back also.

Gone Fishin Club Member Tonia Harbin holds a 22 pound flathead.

Time for a quick nap and at 3:30 another rod went down, I reeled in the 17 pound flathead, took pics and released him back to grow up.

Gary Turner with a nice 17 pound Flathead Catfish.

We caught several more fish that night, including another 20 pound flathead Tonia caught and a 9 pound gar that I caught just after sunrise, that wrapped up 5 lines and made a real mess of things.

Tonia Harbin with another good 20 pound flathead catfish.

We had a great time catching catfish on Santee Cooper in June even if it was pretty hot.

I’m looking forward to going to Santee again in July.  Look for Gone Fishin Club’s Video’s on YouTube or click here  to go there now.

Have Fun Fishing!!!  Gary