first flathead trip ever

well,
i’ve been saying i was going to do it for months, and last night i finally made it out to do a little catfishing .

my friend and i hit up the upper end of pool 4 for an all nighter. we got down there around 7:00 so we could look for some spots before it got dark. we quickly noticed that there was an over abundance of spots to choose from. being new at this, it took a while to figure out which ones would work better than others.

we started fishing for flats around 9:00 and tried about 20 different spots until we pulled out at 5:30 this morning. we only managed to hook into 2 cats all night. both pulled hard, but neither made an apperance at the side of the boat. we also had 2 other confirmed biters that didn’t get hooked. now not having ever done this before, i don’t really no if this is a slow bite or about average when fishing for big flats?

all in all, it was an extreemly fun experince to be all alone on the river all night long. being able to watch the stars, the creatures of the night, the UFO’s…. . i’ll definatly be back out to do that again soon.

P.S. if anyone in rochester needs bullheads, the creek that runs into the zumbro about 500 yds below the silver lake dam is absolutly stacked full of them things .

Hey Jake. What were you using when hooking up with those things? Where were you at in pool 4? I live in Winona and have been wondering for sometime how to hook up with some cats. Is Winona in pool 5?
look forward to hearing from you.
Craig

winona is pool 6.

winona is pool 6.

Here’s a complete list of the pools and their corresponding start and stop points: http://www.fishtheriver.com/pools/

i was using bullheads on 3/0 size circle hooks.

we just found the biggest log jams we could, sat there for about 15-20 min and moved on if we didn’t get bit.

Jake, up the size of your hooks and you catch those fish. A big flathead has a HUGE mouth and you can’t really overdo it on hook size as long as the hook isn’t too much for the bait. As for bullheads, they could pull a 2 lb weight around with all the energy they have. Give it a try.

Matt

You’ve done well for a first timer. I like the fact that you moved alot and explored. For flatheads and bullheads you gotta up your hook size a bunch like the other post said. For weight, 3-5 oz is good. Straight hooks have worked better with big live bait for me. Something like Mustad Big Gun Cat hooks(10829BLN) sizes 7/0 – 11/0 or their 92671’s will work. Team them up with some Power Pro braid (65-80 lb) and you’ll be hauling em in no problem.

A rookie flathead guy who manages 1-4 flats a night is doing dang good.

thanks for the advice guys . i’ll definatly go get some bigger hooks for the next time. i was using 30# spider wire, do you think that’s a little weak? how do you break 80# line if you get a snag? it was hard enough breaking the 30# stuff .

here’s a couple more questions.

when pulling up to a spot, does the big motor scare the fish away?? should i be using the trolling motor to sneak in closer?? how about shining a spot light on the spot, will that spook them?? how about the size of the bullheads i use, is bigger better?? is livelier better??

i know have a lot more questions than answers at this point, so bear with me.

Jake,

I have used some pretty noisy johnson’s going back and forth looking at bottom structure and depth before trying a hole! I am a firm believer that bigflatheads do not scare easy if they are in any depth.. if you are in shallow water it might be a different story…. or if they are smaller cats. but there is not much that a big flathead is scared of.. good job in your first outing…. do you mind me asking if you fished the back waters, dam, or main channel?? I know you tried 20 spots how long did you waite in each spot….?? Thanks for the info….

30 lb braid is tuff but not tuff enough. The first time you get a 40 and he’s right next to a snag you’ve got to pull as hard as you can to turn him and get him away from the wood…then your OK. Lock your drag down and give nothing. A big fish can still take some drag when he’s next to the boat if he’s green.

65-80 lb power pro is super strong stuff but you can break it by wrapping it around a wooden dowel and pulling hard. 80 lb will pull your boat from a anchored position if you arent secured well. When it breaks don’t fall in the water!!

People are always saying how quiet you have to be when fishing flatheads. I dont think noise is a big deal either. Heck, it amy even arouse their curiosity and attract them. I try to stay quiet but Mike can attest to the fact that we’ve gotten many a flathead after making a BUNCH of noise in the boat.

we tried real hard not to make a lot of noise thinking they would spook, but it got really hard sometimes to get positioned right. any thoughts on shining a spot light on the spot??

hey mavzer, i fished the wisconsin channel all night. didn’t feel comfortable enough going through the backwaters at night. i didn’t want to get completely lost. we spent about 15-20 mins at each spot depending on how we felt about it.

Regarding shining a light on the spot, it’s ok for getting anchored right and for shining for your casts, but I wouldn’t suggest leaving any light shining on the water for any lenght of time. Flatheads seem to be pretty light sensitive. If you look at their eyes, they look a lot like cat’s eyes in the dark. The smallest amount of light glows from their eyes like crazy. Just my thoughts.

Matt