Hey everybody Im new to the group. I have been out several times this season and have been catching alot of smaller flatheads (3-7lbs.). Iam wondering if the smaller fish means that there are limmited big fish in the area or if there are just as many big ones in the area? Any feedback would be great. thanks
Big ones will eject smaller ones from their resting areas. I will often fish were two sloughs come together. It is a good test of that resting area to throw crawlers in there during the day. If you get sheepies and small cats move to the next one. If you get no bites come back and hit the edges at night for the big ones. I will usually throw a gill or bullhead in there during the day and sometimes you can get a good fish during the heat of the day. They won’t run with it though. You will see your pole bob and then the bait suddenly stops struggling. Set the hook if that happens.
TCcat… welcome to the site.
There are lots of big flatheads in town, and areas in close proximity to town. We do have a baby-boom of flatheads right now which is a 1st in this area that I am aware of… reason being I believe is because flatheads were not here in very good numbers even 10 years ago. The fish have been migrating(only explanation) further upstream, and establishing populations along the way. The spawning activity seems to be going great for the last few years that would explain all the small fish.
Occasioanly the large fish are caught in the same locations as the small fish before spawn time starts. Most of the time if you run into numbers of good fish, there will be very few small flats around(less than 10 pounds).
We have caught many big flatheads in the recent years, 2005 was the best overall year with tons of big fish being caught, and there were quite a few *one that got away* occurances along with the big fish…. they are still out there somewhere. All of those big fish are doing a great job of making little fish, but the abundance of small flatheads is making it a little more challenging to find the big fish when the little guys scoop up everything in front of them, but at the same time, they alert us to the presence of flatheads using an area.
Every big fish I’ve caught has come from a spot where I’ve caught fish ten pounds and under. I’ve had this notion in the past that no small fish being around is a good sign, but I’ve pretty much tossed that out. There are some things that make spots more likely to hold big fish, but lack of smaller sized fish is not one of them.
I agree with FlatheadWI. The spots I have caught nice fish from produce plenty of smaller fish. In fact, I cant think of a spot I have only caught big fish from. There are just more smaller fish in a given body of water. Just like walleye or bass… most of your fish are from 1-3 lbs and those 6 pounders are somewhat rare.
I’ll just throw my 2 cents in, as I always do. I don’t think small cats are a sign there aren’t big ones in the area. Flatheads aren’t ambush predators. Once it gets dark, the big ones start roaming for resting and unsuspecting prey when they can use the cover of the night. The smaller ones usually move from cover earlier I suspect to avoid being cannibalized. Plus, younger fish are more active because of their metabolism. I would think the small cats are careful to avoid larger, aggressive cats, but could share areas. It would really depend on the cover. There are a lot more areas for the smaller fish to rest too, because of their size.
Seams like all the “larger” flatheads I’ve caught have been caught on multiple fish nights in the same spot, with the other flats caught being significantly smaller.
I think these areas are just “better” feeding areas for flats and all shapes and sizes show up to enjoy dinner.
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