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| My Biggest Blue Of 2020 |
With year 2020 coming to an end, I think most of us are ready to leave it in the rearview mirror. No matter who you are or where you live, the ongoing global pandemic has undoubtedly had an impact on your life. While it was a challenging year for me in many ways, it wasn't all bad. I was fortunate to get to spend a lot of time this year doing what I love which is catching big fish. Here is a look back at some of my best catches of 2020.
The most memorable catch was the blue pictured above. At 50 inches in length, not only was it my biggest fish of the year, but it was also proof that catch and release works. After reviewing some old pics, I realized I had caught this same fish 5 years and 10 days before.
While I am sure I have caught other fish multiple times, this one was easy to recognize due to the unique mark on it's head. The other cool thing about this fish is that I caught it less than a mile from where I hooked into it before. Needless to say, I will be going back there next June to try to battle it again.
My biggest flathead that I measured this year came in at 45 inches and was caught from the bank. I had set up on an island inside a creek channel and tossed out a combination of live and cut baits. This fish, like so many of my other big flatheads, chose the cut bait. My camera man unfortunately cut off half the fish in the picture. If I wasn't my own camera guy, I would fire myself for doing such a lousy job.
The biggest flathead I caught in the kayak this year is pictured above. I didn't measure it since I was not competing in a tournament at the time but I can tell by comparing pictures that this fish was clearly larger than any of the others that I landed in my kayak in 2020. It ate a piece of cut bait while I was spot locked at the top of a drop in a creek channel.
The prettiest catfish I caught this year, if there is such a thing as a pretty catfish, was this yellow colored flathead that I battled with in April. This fish was caught on a piece of cut bait suspended in about 20 feet of water along a creek channel. It also made the cover of Catfish Now magazine which I had the pleasure of writing for this year.
Every year I get a few accidental striped bass catches while fishing for catfish. I didn't get as many this year probably due to spending so much time suspending baits but all the stripers I hooked into were an absolute blast to catch. This 41 inch specimen caught in November was my biggest of 2020.
As much time as I spend catching bait, one would think that I would catch a ton of walleye by accident. That just hasn't been the case though. I did finally catch the first one of my life on Watts Bar this summer while trolling for skipjack and white bass. It certainly wasn't record breaker size but it was a memorable catch for sure.
While year 2020 will go down in infamy, there were many good moments for me. One of the many perks about fishing is that no matter what bad stuff may be going on in life, it all gets blocked out as soon as that rod tip goes down. Thank you to everyone who watched and supported my fishing adventures this year. I plan on spending even more time on the water in 2021 and I hope you all do the same.
