My most expensive dream

Before I get to the story that matters I'm going to start off by saying that my goal for the summer was to catch one of these elusive Flatheads. I had tried fishing at Olathe lake, Gardner Lake, and Cedar lake for the whole summer and fall of 2011! I knew they are there but I just couldn't get one to bite. Maybe I was trying too hard but I would spend the whole night fishing sometimes up until 4 am. On February 2, 2012 I finally hooked into the flathead of my dreams! I had a spur of the moment decision to go to Hillsdale lake that morning so I stopped at a farm pond to catch my bluegill for the morning hunt. I had about 7 or 8 palm sized bluegill and headed off. It was one of the nicest days of the season so I figured they might be out feeding. I had a 2 ounce lead sinker with a large circle hook tied about a foot above the sinker. I hooked the bluegill right under the dorsal fin and winged it out about 15 yards outside a cove that was full of timber. It was until about 30 minutes after when I had something hit my bait. As I jumped up expecting it to give it another tug right after it instantly stopped just as quickly as it hit. I returned back to my seat after about 5 minutes of hovering over my pole inticipating that next bite. Another 5 or so minutes pass by and that's when it happened. It gave another quick bite then 2 or 3 seconds after my pole was doubled over and drag had started singing my favorite song. I clicked over the free spool and let him tighten the line and that's when I firmly and slowly started to set the hook. I ended up fighting him for a good 15 to 20 minutes. My brother tried multiple times to land the fish but couldn't seem to get inside of the gills to land the fish. I asked him to go get a net from a neighboring fisherman but as he left tired again and decided to give me a chance at landing him. He took a run right as he got to the back and that when I tightened my drag and ended up getting him to surrender a little faster. I managed to get my grip on his lower jaw and pull with whatever I had left from the fight. Right as I had him 20 yards or so from the bank I finally dropped to my knees and layed down next to the fish with my grip still tight. I wasn't letting this one get away. Once me and my brother were done celebrating we went to his truck and him being a carpenter he had a tape measure. His length was an awesome 45 and a 1/4 inches long and weighed 38 lbs! It was an awesome way to catch my first flathead even thoug I put a lot of money and hard work into earning this one. I have to say I've never tried so hard for a fish but it paid off better than I could have imagined.