Flathead catfish hang out in deep cover near the current. When they come out of cover to feed, they will move into the current while staying on the bottom. A good technique for catching flatheads is to drift the bait next to the current in river bends.
How do you target flathead?
One of the best things about targeting flathead is that you don’t need anything more than a light spinning outfit and a handful of hooks, sinkers and lures to target these fish effectively. A light 6’9”/7’0” spinning rod in the 4-8lb/6-12lb range is perfect.
What is the best bait to catch flathead catfish?
Flatheads feed primarily on live baits. Good hearty and lively baits like live perch, bluegill, sunfish, goldfish or mudcats are the preferred bait for catching flatheads.
Where is the best place to catch flathead catfish?
Flatheads are commonly found in large water bodies. They usually prefer a big river and a reservoir as its tributaries. In a river, the fish generally like to be in a deep pool where the water is slow. It is also commonly found in tailraces present below dams.
What bait are catfish most attracted to?
Best Catfish Baits
- #1. Nightcrawler. First on the list is the ubiquitous nightcrawler, favored food for all fish species.
- #2. Gizzard Shad.
- #3. White Suckers.
- #4. Skipjack Herring.
- #5. Stinkbait.
- #7. Bluegills.
- #8. Punchbait.
- #9. Chicken Livers.
What is the best time to catch flathead?
The best time to get yourself a nice Flathead is during the day, two – three days lead up to the full moon and the following two- three days after. The preferred tide time would be high tide 7-9Am and fish the run out from the top of the tide down. The fish will be most active two hours after the top of the tide.
Where can I find big flathead?
Flathead will be up on sandbanks or mangrove edges around the high tide followed by drains, weed edges and drop offs on the low. Just be prepared for those bigger flathead to run straight back out at you when they hit your plastic, as they’ll quite often head straight for deeper water.
What do flathead catfish like to eat?
Food Habits – Flatheads are predatory fish and will consume bass, bream, shad, crayfish and often feed on other catfish. The young rely more extensively on aquatic insects and crayfish than do the adults. Large flatheads sometime congregate where food is plentiful such as near tailraces of dams.
What bait is irresistible to catfish?
Arguably, no bait is more closely associated with catfishing than a chicken liver. The reason is simple: livers produce catfish and lots of them. With their strong, meaty smell, chicken livers draw cats from broad areas. Once the cats find the bait, they have trouble resisting them.
Do flatheads eat cut bait?
In colder water especially, flatheads will hit cut bait, especially when they’re feeding heavily. If you’ve get even a slight movement to the bait by fishing current or drift fishing that’s even better.
How old is a 25 lb flathead catfish?
To reach a 25 pound trophy mark, Flathead Catfish have to survive to at least 7 or 8 years.
Do flathead catfish taste good?
Some anglers believe flatheads’ diet is responsible for their superior table quality. And a properly cleaned flathead (be sure to remove the yellow fat in the meat) is unquestionably the best tasting of all catfish.
Do hot dogs work for catfish?
Hot dogs are a common food taken along on fishing excursions and double as excellent catfish bait. Points to remember when using hot dogs as catfish bait include: Cheaper hot dogs seem to catch more fish.
Will catfish bite plastic worms?
Anglers often catch catfish when casting lures for species such as bass and walleyes, and the lures they’re caught on run the gamut from jigs and crankbaits to plastic worms and spoons.
What colors do catfish see?
Based on the research that I did, channel catfish are visual predators. Their eyes focus mostly on greens and blues because those colors stand out in most water conditions.
What size hooks for flathead?
Depending on the size of your bait, 3/0 to 5/0 will do the trick. The best tip is to go super-sharp, quality hooks. Suicide, light gauge live bait, and circle hooks are brilliant here. Just remember, the worst thing you can do is use a hook too small or too large for the bait.
What size lures for flathead?
A safe starting point is to use lures in the 70 to 110mm size range. The Squidgy Pro Range Prawn, new Squidgy Bio Tough Fish and Wriggler are just a few options that will see you on the right path.
What is a good size flathead?
Dusky flathead grow quickly, reaching 40 cm total length (TL) after 3 years in NSW. They mature at around 20 cm TL (males) and 55 cm (females). They are reported to reach 120 cm in length, and about 10 kg in weight, but the majority of fish caught are 40 to 50 cm in length and 0.5 to 1 kg.
What’s the biggest flathead ever caught?
According to NSW Fisheries data, the 105cm flathead could be 15 (possibly even more!) years old. Patrick told Fisho he spotted the fish rise off the bottom in clear, shallow water and crunch the lure about 30-metres away.
Can you catch flathead in shallow water?
Water depth is one of the key factors of successfully catching flathead on surface. I like to stick to water depths of 1 to 6 feet in range, you’ll be surprised how shallow these big fish will get.
Are flatheads bottom feeders?
Flathead catfish are primarily but not exclusively bottom feeders and consume insects, crayfish, clams, and assorted small fish, including sunfish, shiners, and shad.