A big ’cool cat’ made this another memorable fishing trip

RED WING, Minn. — Any day spent fishing the Mississippi River has a chance to be a day to remember.

We hope it's because we targeted a specific species, put together an effective presentation and caught exactly what we were after.

On the walleye tournament trail, Neil Hammargren of Waterloo and I enjoyed our share of days when everything came together. There have been other special moments, too, like the day former University of Iowa basketball star Kevin Boyle put his then personal-best, 27-inch walleye in my boat, and the morning when Dave Gaitley, who used to organize fishing and hunting opportunities for the Minnesota office of tourism, was prefishing with Neil and I on the Bays de Noc in Michigan when we doubled up on 10-pound walleyes.

It doesn't always work out that way. Over the years, I've spent a few days chasing big walleyes and ended up catching big sheepshead. There also was one day when Waterloo's Mike Wirth and I were fishing a sheepshead tournament and boated four walleyes measuring at least 27 inches each.

Sometimes, a monster of the Mississippi takes you completely by surprise and provides a memory that lasts a lifetime.

You never know what you're going to catch on this mighty and muddy river. I've caught walleye, sauger, northern pike, crappie, bluegill, sunfish, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, rock bass, white bass, channel catfish, flathead catfish, blue catfish and even one muskie two summers ago.

I've caught most of the less desirable species that swim in the Mississippi, as well — sheepshead, mooneyes, gar, carp, buffalo, dogfish and sturgeon. There also have been two creatures I hope to never catch again — a mud puppy and an eel.

The second week of April, Cedar Falls realtor and my former neighbor Doug Bonwell talked me into fishing the Spring Classic on Pool 4 of the Mississippi near Red Wing, Minn. As April conditions go, the river was in great shape with good clarity, stable water levels and moderate flow. A stretch of unseasonably warm weather had raised the surface temperature into the mid-50s on the water, and the walleye spawn was underway.

We spent the three days before the catch-record-release tournament scouting our favorite areas and employing different presentations in an effort to come up with a game plan that would give us a chance to compete in a field consisting largely of anglers from the Red Wing area.

Bonwell caught a 28-inch walleye slow-trolling stickbaits in one spot and a spawned-out 24-incher casting a ringworm into an eddy. In between, we pulled walleyes and saugers from 15 to 20 inches from a half-dozen spots.

The day before the tournament, we were pitching jigs into an eddy when I got a solid "thump."

"Got one," I said to Bonwell. "Feels like a good one."

Then the fish took a run to deeper water and began peeling drag off my spinning reel. My rod was doubled over, and I knew then what I had hold of.

"This isn't what we're looking for," I said. "It feels like a big, old catfish. I'm just going to break it off."

Bonwell wasn't having any of that.

"Don't do that," he said. "I want to see if you can land it."

So the battle was on. The fact I didn't really care if I landed it or not probably played in my favor because I leaned on that fish about as hard as you can with a 6-foot medium-action spinning rod and 6-pound Berkley Fireline.

Old whiskers and I went back and forth for about 15 minutes. He bulldogged to the bottom, and I worked him back toward me. He changed directions and charged under the boat, and I did my best to get him stopped and turned. My forearms began to burn from the exertion it took to stay in the fight.

"That fish is kicking your butt," Bonwell said.

"You want to take over for awhile?" I responded.

"No way," he said. "It's all you, buddy."

And then the struggle turned in my favor. Slowly but steadily, I worked that beheamoth toward the surface. The first time I got him up, he swirled violently, slapped the water with his tail and took off again, but he was running out of stamina.

The next time I got him up, Bonwell got part of him inside the net. That only made the fish angry and he summoned the strength for one more short run. I wrestled him back to the boat and this time, Bonwell got most of him inside the net. Together, we each grabbed a side of the net's hoop and hoisted the fish aboard.

I don't know what that flathead weighed or even how long it was. I know it didn't appreciate the bottom of Bonwell's Ranger boat, and getting a grip on it and holding it up for photos wasn't easy. I've caught a handful of big flatheads in my day, but this was probably the biggest I've put in the boat. My best guess is somewhere around 50 pounds.

For the record, the International Game and Fish Association world record for a flathead on 6-pound test is a 54 pounder caught in 2013 from Kanopolis Reservoir in Kansas.

From that spot, we went to a nearby slough to pitch jigs. No walleyes, but I did catch a pair of 5-pound channel cats.

As for the walleye tournament, a cold front and strong northwest winds forced us to abandon our original plan and scramble as the bite got tough. We had nine keepers (one short of a two-day limit) for 25-plus pounds that got us sixth place overall. The winners weighed in 34.74 pounds.

And, of course, I hooked up with another big flathead, but I had enough of that a couple of days earlier and I broke that one off as soon as I was certain what I had.

In the end, it was good to be on the river. We had a good time, caught a few walleyes and saugers, and we were in the hunt.

But that's not what made it another memorable experience.

That distinction goes to one of those monsters of the Mississippi. That was one cool cat.