Flathead on my ultralight

[bluebasser86]

Went down to a little creek today to play around with my ultralight. The creek is about 15 feet across and 6inches to 3 feet deep in the area I was fishing. It's not far from where it runs out of the lake and eventually runs into the Kansas River. Since it runs into the river it gets a fair amount of fish that you wouldn't expect to see in such a tiny creek. I was catching sunfish and bluegills on one of my homemade trout jigs in an olive color and a 1/80 ounce when I stumbled across a flathead that was laying out of the current in some rocks. I couldn't get the tiny jig down to him because the current kept pushing it right past him. I switched to a bigger one of my jigs, a pink and white one that was 1/8oz. I was tossing it on a 6' Avid ultralight rated 1-6lb test on a 750 Shimano Sedona with 3.5lb D.A.M. Techtan line. I dropped that jig right on the flatheads nose and just shook it a little bit. I know the hair had to be touching his lip and the shaking must have done the trick because he tipped down a little and very gently sucked the jig in. I set the hook on it and new right away that it was going to be lucky if I ever got to touch that fish. After about 20 minutes of playing tug of war in the current and doing everything I could to keep it out of the rocks and laydowns and after a few missed attempts to get a hold of him, I finally got my thumb in his mouth.
I didn't have my camera or my scale but I wasn't far from home so I filled up a rubbermaid tote with water and hurried home to weigh him and get a couple pictures. He registered 9lbs 12ozs and to my surprise, was blind in both eyes. I got a couple pictures of him and drove back to a deeper portion of the creek, closer to the river where he'll be less likely to be caught by someone who would love to have some deep fried flathead nuggets.