On the Catfish Forums we get a lot of questions about how do you hook a bullhead. One of the things about flathead fishing is that you will get a lot of runs and when you set the hook there is a good chance you will come up with a miss. Flatheads have a huge mouth and they will engulf bait unfortunately when you set the hook there is also good chance you will pull the hook from the bait and right back out that big, wide open mouth. Missing a clicker screaming flathead run after waiting several hours for the opportunity tends to get most beginners and even experienced catmen questioning how they have hooked their bait.
There are many kinds of flathead baits and just as many ways to hook up bait. Some people prefer to hook their baits through the mouth, others go 45 degrees across the back, and many people hook the bait just in front of the tail. I’m going to show you how I do it and will tell you right now before the debate starts that I am not claiming this is the one and only method. How you hook a big, feisty flathead bait is a matter of personal preference and one in which you must have confidence. This is the way I do it and it works well for me and I am confident that if I get a run I’m going to hook up with the fish.
Bullheads are my preferred flathead bait. I use circle hooks and have had good luck with them. I have used J hooks and have a leader holder full of pre-tied J-hooks but I seldom use them. Since going to circle hooks I have a good hook-up rate so they are my Go-To hooks. Here is how I hook up my baits and I would use this technique no matter what type of hook I was using.
In my opinion, flatheads will in most situations take a bait head first. This is based on personal experience from looking down the throat of a freshly caught big flathead and seeing the tail of my bullhead just sticking out of his gullet. They say a picture is worth a thousand words so the attached photo should explain how I hook up a bullhead but I will explain it here also.
I primarily fish a two hook cat bait harness made up of two snelled circle hooks. I use a large 8/0 Circle hook as my main hook and run it parallel with the spine near the fin on the top of the back. I run the hook just under the skin and back out leaving plenty of gap in the hook. I run my hooks so that they come out with the hook point facing the head. If the flathead takes the bait head first I want him to encounter the hook point as soon as he takes the bait. As I said I use a two hook cat harness and hook both hooks the same – the large front hook near the back fin and the stinger hook near the tail parallel with the spine and just under the skin, hook point forward. I have an excellent hook up rate.
That is all there is to it – simple and easy to do. Watch out for those side fins and the top fin on the bullheads as they can make a painful puncture. I don’t trim off any fins and I don’t think a flathead is in the least bit worried about them. At this point in the season I’ve been poked by enough bullheads that I’ve learned to just put up with it. If the sting bothers you there is a product out there called Sting-Eze which is for bug bites but it works pretty good on bullhead stings to.
Good fishing!!
