Flatheads Pool 2

Hey folks,

I just moved down to the east TC metro area this January and have been slowly learning new waters. I’m from Brainerd originally and used to fish about 140-160 days a year for everything from panfish, bass, eyes, pike, muskies, etc…

I’ve been on pool 2 chasing walleyes this winter/spring half a dozen times or so from the 494 ramp all the way to the ford dam. I’ve never fished flatheads before but have caught little channel cats in small rivers. I have plenty of heavy gear and all the necessary terminal tackle to rig up for flatheads (just need to pick up new hooks). What are some good areas on pool 2? Upper, lower, backwaters? What should I be looking for as far as depth, cover, peak times of day/night, current (or lack thereof), etc. Is livebait a must? Big bullheads seem to be the bait of choice?

I’m completely new to flatheads, just looking for a few areas/spots to post up on and try to find a freight-train.

I’ve never lived anywhere with flatheads and want to see what these monsters can do…

I have a nice rig for night fishing too if anyone would like to join me on the river sometime!

-Matt Holbrook

Welcome to IDA Matt!

…another muskie guy (possibly) turning in his stick bait!

I’m out the door soon, but wanted to welcome you…we have a number of flathead folks willing to share their knowlege of finding a fishy or two.

Welcome aboard Mate!
I primarily fish the MN river from 35w to Ole Miss. I seem to get hits in the snags by holes.
A tip for starters look for fallen trees, snags and cover especially if there is some deep water. If and when I start working pool 2 I want to try some some wing dams after st.paul. Those look like a good prospect.
Good Luck
thanks
Larry

I believe it was In-fisherman’s scientists that put a tracer or gps tracking device of some sort into flatheads and found that they move primarily once a day for about an hour, but the bottom line BrianK is the man here!!! For us in Illinois we’re allow 50 unattended hooks on a $13.00 license!!! How dumb is that! But never the less I catch my flatheads and channels with the trotlines and bankpoles lately they’ve been hooking up sometime after midnight and before sunrise. I use bullheads when I have the time to catch them at our local wetlands preserve, but usually I get a bluegill or two from some friends that are there before me panfishing. Oh yeah we’re allowed to use bluegills as bait too. The bait, for me, must be alive to achieve sucsess. Even with Illinois rules I do catch and release and only keep a few fish for some meals. I only gripe about the leniency of the laws here because Wisconsins fishing is 10 times better I’m happy here I have the best of both worlds as I’m 15 minuets from Wisconsin, but trotlineing and bankpole fishing is fun!

Trot lining? I don’t think that is as rewarding as catching them on a pole. However, I assume you have success with catch and release and if I could do that, I would be all for it. It would be cool to see what you pulled in. In Minnesota though, we only get 1 line which is obsurd.

welcome to the site MNmatt.

You asked some really good questions there regarding the Mississippi. Pool 2 is a trasition area.. it starts as a semi-industrial area I call the concrete jungle(where I fish most of the time), and it eventually turns into a wider riverbed with lots of shallow backwaters, wing dams, and channels.

Once you get as far south as the 494 area, you have every traditional structure available just about everywhere you turn. and there are lots of big flats down that way. On the north end of the pool.. its a borderline nightmare to most people who know traditional structure.. because there is none. A rip rap bank, dam, barge tie-off, bridge pilon, steel and concrete walls, culverts… these are all everyday structures up here… Lots of big flatheads, but very challenging to find and stay on top of.

I would highly recommend staying from downtown St Paul and south(Lilydale area) when trying to learn to target flatheads. There is no shortage of traditional snags, wing dams, inlets.. you name it.

The bait of choice is a very lively bait. Many of us prefer bullheads in the 7″ range(anything larger is illegal unless obtained on that body of water). I dont use bullheads over 8 1/2″ regardless. Live suckers have a good day once in a while, creek chubs can be excellent.. and at certain times, I do very well on FRESH cut bait(chubs and suckers), but they wont touch it once its water-logged(20 minutes?).

Traditionaly, you anchor ahead of a snag/structure and cast back just ahead of the snag. Its the same if your fishing a shelf, flat, or general area you suspect the fish to be feeding. Never under-estimate shore fishing.. lots of good areas out there, you just need to adjust your presentations.

There are lots of old post filled with information on catching flatheads.. it worth the time to do the research and learn everything you can. Its usually not to hard to find an open boat seat and learn from experience…

Where ever you fish… learn the river well in the daylight, mark your paths on a gps if possible, keep a good spotlight on board that is not going to run out of juice.. and wear your lifejacket.

Thanks for the info guys. Looks like a great start. From dinner time, sunset, and after dark how do locational preferences change? Are you fishing tight to heavy/deep cover and moving into the clear areas just upstream as darkness sets in? Are most of the biggest flats being caught in 20+ feet, 15-20, 10-15, 5-10 feet? Does this change significantly from daytime into/after dark? Are you fishing in different current conditions as the day/night changes? Should I be looking for heavier current snags or slack water snags? I know the layout of the wingdams pretty well, what is the best approach there? I wouldn’t have thought about fishing the wingdams for flats.

It looks like I will be launching at the 494 ramp and staying in that area for the most part (only 5 minutes from my house).

I appreciate all the advice you guys are willing to offer!

Thanks,

-Matt

I have caught flats after dark in very shallow water, such as a sand bar or a shallow snag. I have also caught htem out of deep water, 20+ fow. One of my fav spots on pool two is the front side of an island. The current has washed out a hole that is 20ft. There is a snag piled up on the left side and channel that runs to the right into some backwater area’s. About 10-15 yards out from the tip of the island is a sand bar, which I assume the fish use to feed at night. We generally have on rod up on top of the sand and one in the hole. You should know within 10-15 mins if there are active fish in the area.

Don’t over look rock and rip rap area’s. I have taken flatties from these types of structure as well.

Good Luck

Theres plenty of cats in there to be found! I have been finding them near the deep water but catching them in the 10 ft range. Make sure you have some current moving thru the area your targeting. The main channel has plenty of spots so you wont have to look very far! Learn the wingdams and try an pick a few spots to try. You will be suprised how many different areas will hold fish. Pick a mile or two streach to start with and learn the area. Usually it wont take long to know if theres flats in the area! This will give you an ideas of what is working and eliminate some time as you move on further for finding better spots. We have been seening spurts of bites from 8-8:30 then 9:30-10:30 the last week here in most spots with a few runs off them times. This gives me time to hit a couple good areas and check a new one about every night!

Let us know how you do!

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Trot lining? I don’t think that is as rewarding as catching them on a pole.

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I agree theres nothing like catching a big flathead on a pole. But…I think running a dozen trotlines or 50 bank lines would keep you busy all night long and be plenty rewarding. I bet trotliners probably work twice as hard as anglers in a given night. You have to run up and down river, checking your lines all night long. I know I would try it if it was legal in MN. Catch and release though, of course.

Imagine how much you would learn about cats if you could have that many baits spread out in a body of water. A few years of that and you could write a book on em.

I’m completely new to flatheads, just looking for a few areas/spots to post up on and try to find a freight-train.

I’ve never lived anywhere with flatheads and want to see what these monsters can do…

I have a nice rig for night fishing too if anyone would like to join me on the river sometime!

-Matt Holbrook

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I also am a first timer (when it comes to the flathead) I just happened upon this site after watching a clip of Steve Hoffmann catch a flat during the day. I will be doing my first trip July 7th with an IDAcatguides guide. I am really looking forward to that!

With regards to pool 2 I used to fish near hidden falls park for carp and would run in occasionally with a channel cat or two but we would hammer the carp sometimes 60 per night with a dozen or so over 10 lbs. I have seen and heard so much about flatties that I decided to do it right and get a guided trip to learn the ropes and hopfully some tricks of the trade. I will definately be taking the camera or camcorder on that trip.

First off, welcome to the site, it is the most helpful thing I have found yet to help with my addiction (fishing). There are a ton of guys with a ton of information that they are willing to share.

Good luck with the catfishing trip. I recently did the same thing with Briank and my father and we had a blast (check out my avatar). Brian will take good care of you, and share a lot on knowledge throughout the night. You will love it.

Welcome Matt!

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I’m completely new to flatheads

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…and welcome to the…dark side!

What I recommend to beginners is to read through the posts in this forum…going back pages. There’s a ton of info on rods, reels, tackle, baits, structure info and even how to hold a cat.

Once the home work is done…ask as many questions as you like. We have a great group of catters on this site that are willing to share their knowledge.

Again welcome to IDA and it’s fantistic members!

Another word of advice, stay away from taking advice in my posts. Unless of course your goal is to be skunked everytime you go out.

Actually I have been scouting shore spots from 494 (South Saint Paul) to Bohemian Park which is by the U of M just downstream and around the bend from St. Anthony Falls in Minneapolis. I have a hard time finding people to go with and it’s a lot more fun (and safe I might add) to fish in a group. PM me of you are thinking about hitting it some night.

I’d be willing to go some night. Let me know where and when.

I am thinking about hitting it this weekend and I wouldn’t mind some company.

Send a PM if you care to. I have some stuff going on this weekend, but nights are usually clear.

From shore or a boat? My dad is taking my boat to the cabin, since his is in the shop so I don’t have a boat I can’t say “no you can’t take my boat” after all he started taking me to the launch and dropping me and the boat off when I was 12 yrs old. If you are going from shore I would be up for swapping some stories while waiting for Mr. Whiskers to come out and play.

Cool. I can’t Friday because I’ll be here at work until at least 8 and I have my daughter. I am thinking Saturday or Sunday, unless my brother can get his boat out Saturday. He was thinking about it, but I haven’t heard from him since. He needs to catch a flathead so he gets it in his blood and starts going more.

I’ll PM you guys as soon as I have a better plan.

Sunday works best for me. Let me know what the plan is. Maybe we could get a little IDA get together planned, kind of short notice but……I’m sure we could find a shore spot that is big enough for a bunch of riverrats.

great post!!!!!!

Sunday looks good so far, even if I make it out in the boat Saturday. I’ll have a better idea when my brother contacts me today. Looks like they got some mudcats in St. Paul yesterday.

Tomorrow should work for me. I don’t think I am hitting it tonight.

check your PM’s. sunday will work for me too!

I’ll likely be out tomorrow evening if the weather is somewhat close to decent. I need to make it out and round up some bait 1st. You guys can PM me if you would like to join me. I could use a little help in the bait harvest department if anyone has a little extra time.

The only time I will be able to get out is Sunday evening after 5pm. Otherwise I would be there along side you to catch some bait.

Do you throw a cast net or just fish for bullies?

Gocatfish, mplspug and I have sent PM’s to each other to try to set something up. Gocatfish is thinking about starting early 6am mplspug has not gotten back with me yet. We need a central point of contact to get things organized. Im new to this club and inexperienced flathead fisherman so you all call the shots I will be along for the ride.

So far those that are thinking of fishing tommorow are;

audemp (Marc)

Mplspug

Gocatfish

Let us know!

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Do you throw a cast net or just fish for bullies?

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Audemp…I’m sure you aren’t aware…but cast nets…are another thing that’s not allowed in MN…

I wish I could explain why…

Isnt that just typical..

Man our state is too tight on regs!

MN State Regs!
Its why we have one of the Best Fishieres in the Nation now and will continue to do so in the future!

Audemp,
If I can offer a strong recommendation. (If you have already done this then disregard this portion of the message.)
Go through the Mississippi Catfish posts. (All of them.)
Scroll down to the bottom on the right under the Last post column, you will see pages. Start back on 19 and work your way forward. Then start Googling Flatheads and you find a ton more of info. Then after that, start checking out the books and DVD. (sounds like you might have a good start in that area)
If you want to get on the Fast track to Flathead fishing. Most of us on here have at least 1 year and some many years of experience. Everyone has different methods and tactics. Some fundamental ones that we all work with, yet many specialized to certain waters and geographic locations. You will no doubt pick up some very helpful tips at Trophy Cat adventures when its your time, but you will be doing yourself and the rest of us a big favor. By trying to learn all you can on your own, Then we can assist in filling in gaps, which there will be many.
Lots of people start out all Gung HO on Flathead fishing, once they start getting a peek at how much time it takes and how challenging it can be, They turn into the flash in the pan and they decide to go back to what they did before.
It sounds like you got the passion to go the distance and be a serious Flathead fisherman, time to show the dicipline and start doing research.
That way you can assist in making meaningful contributions to the group instead of just being along for the ride.
thanks
Larry

You know Larry…you are so right!

I’ve read darn near every post in this forum at least once! Starting in 2001…and EVERYONE will be surprised what info can be found back there. Heck…there’s even spot on the spot locations in some posts!

Don’t take Larry’s post wrong…questions are always welcome…but you will find so much info faster…by doing a little research first.

PS…use the display all box if you want to see posts from further back than 3 months ago.