With the closure of LaSalle Lake, noted blue-catfish angler Darryl Turner has turned his considerable skills elsewhere. Most notably, he caught an accidental flathead catfish, from Clinton Lake, that bottomed out a 50-pound scale.
“At the time, I was fishing for crappie with my 9-foot crappie rod with 8-pound test [line] and a 1/16th-ounce jig tipped with a minnow under a float,” he emailed. “Once I set the the hook, I realized it was not a crappie and it was something very big. After 30 minutes of fighting this fish, with over 20 runs back out, after getting him close to the bank, I had no net or any help of landing this monster. There were rocks, branches and tree stumps all over the shoreline, including snakes cruising by.
“After about 20 minutes, I had him within reach. Once he realized that, he decided to make another run back out. I could not stop him. Next thing I know, he ran into a snag. I thought for sure he gotten off. I pulled on the line and realized I was snagged. So I kept letting line out to see if he would move. Nothing. I figured he got off, so I tugged once. Again I felt him pull, so the fight was on again. After about 10 minutes or so, he finally tired and I was able to get a hold of him and dragged him onto the shore. My line was stretched out after the battle.”
He called Ol’ Joe’s Live Bait & Tackle in DeWitt and staff came to take photos before he ``returned this monster back to the lake.’’
FOTW, the celebration of big fish and their stories (the stories matter) around Chicago fishing, runs Wednesdays in the Sun-Times. Submit nominations by message on Facebook (Dale Bowman), on Twitter (@BowmanOutside) and Instagram (@BowmanOutside) or email (BowmanOutside@gmail.com).
