any bait tips for catching big flat heads?

[Jordanlee]

any body have any special baits are advice? for geting the big ones
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[gxtmfa]

Bullhead. Snip the spines off the fins so they don't sting any hungry mudcats. Also creates a little bit of blood-scent for the cats to go on.
I reccommend yellow bullhead. They have brighter color, and I think even a little bit of added visibilty helps your chances by 1%. I think you're supposed to hook them through the dorsal fin. Yellow bulls are usually smaller, so any of them big enough to catch are that perfect size of not too big, not too small.

You can catch bullhead anywhere. Here's one interesting thing I read about them- if their pond dries up, the little buggers can burrow down and wait a few days for the next rain to come. This means that a small marsh that floods to knee-high sometimes but occasionally goes dry might having nothing but bullhead, making them easy to target with rod and reel, or even a minnow trap (I wouldn't expect them to all be large enough for rod and reel). They hit doughbaits and worms, and will gorge themselves on tadpoles in the wild.
You can also try bogs- bullheads can survive low oxygen levels that kill just about all other game fish. The reasons bullheads are effective are because sunfish have those poky dorsal fins. Bullheads also survive longer on hook and line (real tough fish). The bullhead is targetted almost exclusively by flats- other live fish might get you pike, but bullheads will just about only be taken by flats. Flats love them. Because bullheads can live in such extreme conditions, they are easier to target and collect with rod and reel. I have seen bullhead pulled from flooded marshes by heron before. Also, when you catch one, there could be a small school of them- I've never personally gone fishing and only caught one. It was always none or at least 4. You can keep them alive longer.

Also, you can "stock" them. Bullhead can be found gaurding their fry by the shore. They stand their ground so well that you can pick them up and bucket them. Then, you can transfer them to a flooded ditch, quarry or marsh by your house- the kind that is dry once every two weeks, but generally full. The fish will take hold and soon enough you'll have your own go-to pond for bait. I have no idea if this is legal though, so ... Yeah...

Also, if you find a 3-inch whiskered fish in your minnow trap that's
slender and has a flat head, make sure it's notva madtom. These fish are to catfish what the goldfish is to carp. They have some very nasty barbs on their fins. They might make good bait, but they only get to be 3" and you have to clip their fins.

If you're on a lake and you can't seem to find bullhead (don't forget to try farm ponds!), I know that shrimp works well. The Iowa state record flathead was caught on shrimp. My grampa saw the fish being caught from beginning to end when he was a young boy and now he never uses anything else.
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[katfish]

Jordan

Mature flathead eat live fish. Diet studies show their stomach contents are 97% fish.


Last year this flathead ate a 2-3 pound channel cat that took my baitfish and got tangled in submerged timber.


When water temperature is cool enough I use bluegill, rockbass, small carp, or other assorted baits of appropriate size.


When water temp rises and the panfish die on the hook I use goldfish. They tolerate the warmer water better and stay active all night.



Use baits appropriate for the size flathead in your area and keep the baits healthy and lively.

Good luck
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[4poundonly]

Nice one katfish[cool] what state did u get those flats in?
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[katfish]

Nice one katfish[cool] what state did u get those flats in?

I catch most of my flathead from public lakes in Ohio.



I've had trouble finding really big ones this year but have managed some mid sized flathead.



With the water cooling I still have hopes of locating some trophy size fish.


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[4poundonly]

thnx[cool]
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[parttime]

For me I like to have a variety of baits. Usually 3 to 5 inch sunfish or shad. Bullheads are great also. I've found that small frogs are a killer at times too.
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[fishingcanada]

Use chicken livers, cheese or corn to catch flathead catfish. For live bait use worms, minnows, leaches and small bait fish.
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[jackherber]

Sorry, Canada, I disagree. Livers, cheese and corn are pretty much channel cat bait. If you are going to specifically target flatties, live bait is the only way to go. Here in Georgia we can us bream if they are caught by hook and line. The thing I do different is to hook them through the mouth and out one of the nostrils. I know this isn't the objective (you want the dang things eaten) but I have had a bream on the hook all night and was able to release him alive many hours later.
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[alex_spike]

that is huge can u give me any advise[angelic]
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[Jeremiah_Owens]

i thought it was illegal to use goldfish for bait.
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