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#501610 02/06/19 05:30 AM
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not sure if this is the bets forum t ask this but i notice in all fishing vids and as well as people who fish they can catch plenty of bluecats n channels all day but flatheads u may catch 1 every 10 fish that tells me that flathead numbers must be very low almost endangered i wonder why as blues get bigger and can eat big fish just like the flatheads

why else do people not catch flatheads near in numbers of blues when msot anglers use live fish

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I dont think its a matter of numbers, Matt. Unlike blues and channels, flathead dont travel in schools. They are predominently solitary fish and very nomadic. My dad supplimented his inclome rather well selling river run cats. We had over 1000 hooks in the water at all times, crossing the river on trotlines up and down the Calcasieu River. We'd follow the schools up and down, and hardly ever caught a flathead, primarily I think because they dont haunt the same areas.

Flats prefer stiller water, with less current. If my dad wanted to catch a flathead, he'd set special line for them in the backs of bays and bait strictly with live bait, usually, BH or BG.

The reasoning is sound that you dont catch near as many flatheads is because they just aren't there in the same numbers as BC or CC.


.10 surface acre pond, 10.5 foot deep. SW LA. The epitome of a mutt pond. BG, LMB, GSF, RES, BH, Warmouth, Longear Sunfish, Gambusia,Mud Minnows, Crappie, and now shiners!!...I subscribe!!
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i get that but still the numbers r insane that guys can catch blues at like 10-1 flathead or more.


i just found a great spot on a creek about 30-45 feet wide im gonna set out some poles with cut bait and maybe a few live sunfish ect in hopes of catching some flatheads. so your saying t target the flats to avoid any part of the creek with current?

i know flatheads dont like current but since u have experience with this curious how u think i should try n catch them with poles stuck in the bank

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someone is really obsessed with flatheads...

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Originally Posted By: wannapond0001
someone is really obsessed with flatheads...



sure am dying t taste them everyone claims how amazing the meat is they also look cooler than other catfish and the fact they eat live fish ambush type predators is cooler its like a bass

just sucks that its hard t catch but i guess it makes them more of a prized catch when u finally nail one sadly most flatheads u catch r usually above 10 pounds

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It's not that they don't like current, just not typically hard flowing current. If you want to catch flathead, nix the cut bait, you're wasting your time. Go with live 100%.

They absolutely love Bullhead (but BG work as well) The bigger the better. If my dad caught one on the lines, he would leave it on the line hoping a flathead might find it, but not before changing to a larger hook and hooking the BH thru the tail.

I'm not saying you wont catch flathead out in river current, you will, we've caught them in hoop nets occasionally but your odds go up dramatically if you can find some back/slack water. Deep holes in creeks are good too, as they will lay on the bottom or in the undercut banks in a bend.

Last edited by Mike Whatley; 02/07/19 05:41 AM.

.10 surface acre pond, 10.5 foot deep. SW LA. The epitome of a mutt pond. BG, LMB, GSF, RES, BH, Warmouth, Longear Sunfish, Gambusia,Mud Minnows, Crappie, and now shiners!!...I subscribe!!
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When I was just a youngster back in Indiana, I knew a guy that spent a lot of his summer nights fishing for FHC. His go to bait was live 10 to 12 inch suckers. He fished exclusively from shore at night and used light deep sea tackle. He never started fishing much before 10 or 11 PM. He caught some monsters!


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im trying t hopefully target smaller ones for eating sized not anything real big dont have the tackle for that atm anyways also the creek isnt very big so prob biggest fish in it may b 50 pounds if i had t guess which is good

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https://www.google.com/maps/place/Meridian+Regional+Airport/@32.2983579,-88.753614,83m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x8884808a72105c97:0xe89fd8e6a477b166!8m2!3d32.333547!4d-88.7451526



this is wher eim gonna b fishing its the biggest part of the whole creek in the city so it has to be the best part it has some nice white sandy beach places too which u can swim when its higher

anyways how would u fish this part im gonna move up and down within 100 yards or so tomorrow i plan t go put out my bak poles and a few rods to catch cats n crappie sunfish

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Matt,

Have you confirmed that there are flatheads in the creek? Not all creeks and rivers have them.


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yes the 2 flatheads iv ever caught in life were in here it def has them the creek forms from the spillway of the citys rez so ti has everything

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Ok so you will be fishing during the day. From the picture, it doesn't look like you have any quiet, deep back waters to fish so, IME, I would fish the deeper holes and just up stream of snags (downed tree, etc.). At night they are on the move so less fussy about where you fish. Like Mike said, live bait is your best bet. IMO the most important thing is be patient!!! One of those cats may look at a bait for an hour or 3 before he decides to take it! They didn't get big by being stupid.

Sounds like Mike Whatley has a lot of experience. Maybe he or others can offer better advice.


Last edited by Bill D.; 02/07/19 08:42 PM. Reason: after thought

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its so difficult to not get hung up fishing in logs downed trees ect though especially from a bank maybe its the rig people use which makes it easier for them tbh i usually tie a 2-3 oz weight about 10 inches above my hook

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Matt,

I don't fish in the snag. I fish a little upstream from it. The current will carry the smell of your bait into the snag and draw the fish laying in the snag upstream to the bait.


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This time of year find the deepest hole you can find, it will up your odds of catching a flathead.



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I will have to ask one of my relatives that does a lot of river fishing about the flathead situation on the White River here in Ark. He catches a lot of fish with troutlines and nets. I know people over this way catch some but haven't asked about what they were doing.

Last edited by bigpullerman; 02/08/19 07:24 AM.

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If your Cahunnas are large sized then try a little noodleling in and around the log jam or look for a cavern in steep banks or under boat ramps where you can run your hand into the holes. My friend says at the end of boat ramps there will be a hole, washed out by boat motors and high winds. This is favorite place to hand fish. If the hole is too deep, he will use a bamboo pole, tie a treble hook tight to the pole, then tie on a few ribbons to the hook. The fish will bite the ribboned hook, he said he is not snagging the fish. Said he can feel the fish hit the hook.

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As teenagers we went hand grabbing. A friend stuck his hand in an anticipated catfish hole in the bank. He yelled and pulled out his hand with a large water moccasin attached. By the time we could get him to the hospital he was in and out of conciseness. Stayed there a week and lost 2 fingers and part of his hand.
















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im to much of a wuss to hand grab afraid of turtles ect also im targeting smaller fish usually when hand grabbing its for fish above 20 pounds i dont mind catching a big fish obviously but im going to catch fish for a good fish fry rather than sport

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I had the pleasure to do a little noodling/grabbling when I lived in TN. The guys that invited me built hollow rock piles when the water was down in the winter and visit them when the cats were spawning. We'd wear heavy gloves and stick our hands in the entrance. If there was a fish in the hole it'd almost immediately hit your fingers....quite un-nerving to the inexperienced. Then you'd just have to keep messing with it till it finally latched onto your hand then wrestle it out.

We also used the stick/hook method, but we'd have the end of the stick split, and the hook was tied to heavy fishing line on a rod back in the boat. Once the fish was excavated, you pull the stick off and let the guy on the rod have him.

We never caught a flathead noodling, just CC and BC. A 20# BC with half your hand in his mouth is one heck of a rush!! Just unlucky on the flatheads on the trips I made, but I got some good stories to tell!

I wouldn't dare try noodling down here in the swamp....for obvious reasons.


.10 surface acre pond, 10.5 foot deep. SW LA. The epitome of a mutt pond. BG, LMB, GSF, RES, BH, Warmouth, Longear Sunfish, Gambusia,Mud Minnows, Crappie, and now shiners!!...I subscribe!!
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Originally Posted By: Mike Whatley
I had the pleasure to do a little noodling/grabbling when I lived in TN. The guys that invited me built hollow rock piles when the water was down in the winter and visit them when the cats were spawning. We'd wear heavy gloves and stick our hands in the entrance. If there was a fish in the hole it'd almost immediately hit your fingers....quite un-nerving to the inexperienced. Then you'd just have to keep messing with it till it finally latched onto your hand then wrestle it out.

We also used the stick/hook method, but we'd have the end of the stick split, and the hook was tied to heavy fishing line on a rod back in the boat. Once the fish was excavated, you pull the stick off and let the guy on the rod have him.

We never caught a flathead noodling, just CC and BC. A 20# BC with half your hand in his mouth is one heck of a rush!! Just unlucky on the flatheads on the trips I made, but I got some good stories to tell!

I wouldn't dare try noodling down here in the swamp....for obvious reasons.




same ehre we caught a alligator snapping turtle over 50 pounds in that same creek i posted id def nevrrrr try noodling there tbh i dont even feel safe swimming there due to snapping turtles beer bottle glass and giant gar that might bite my foot lol

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Originally Posted By: ewest
As teenagers we went hand grabbing. A friend stuck his hand in an anticipated catfish hole in the bank. He yelled and pulled out his hand with a large water moccasin attached. By the time we could get him to the hospital he was in and out of conciseness. Stayed there a week and lost 2 fingers and part of his hand.


Eric, this is the reason I have never tried it, even though I have been invited to go along. It's not small cahonnas its large brain smile


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+++ mind over mayhem.
















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id also b afraid of a big fish like that finning the hell out of me imagine a 40+ flatehads fin sticking into your arms


o me its so much more fun t catch them on a rod than going t grab them unless ur doin it to harvest the meat

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