Why Do You Fish for Flatheads?

When I was lying in bed last night, I was wondering what others had in mind on why the fish for them.

For me it is the fight, I like how flatheads seem to be one giant muscle. Another is at least the potential for a big fish. I also enjoy shore fishing on a river. I could just chuck out a crawler and catch fish frequently, but that is another thing I like, the challenge and relative rarity of the fish. Even getting a run or a bullhead to dance is somewhat satisfying. Another reason would be that they are not targeted as much as other fish. You kind of feel like a pioneer or a rebel fishing for them. Lastly, the one I can’t really explain, is there is something about the fish when you catch one and you are looking at it and holding it. They are so unique even when compared to their cousins the channels. They also seem so docile when you land them.

The things I don’t like are the possibilities of sitting for hours in what seems to be a prime area and not even getting a run. I don’t like that they are much more difficult, especially the pigs, to catch during the day. And if you fish alone from time to time like me, it can get boring waiting.

If your answer is the size of the fish you can catch, I am curious if they only reached a certain size that you wouldn’t fish for them, what would that weight be. If they only reached 10#s, I would still fish for them, but I’d maybe be more willing to target other fish or not try so hard to plan around fishing in the evenings/nights. If they reached 20#s, I think I would feel the same way I do now about them. I get just about as excited catching a 5# as opposed to a 20# fish. I can only imagine right now what will happen when I land one over 30#.

Flatheads remind me of me, big, dumb, antisocial, and always hungry

I just like that I can get off work on a Friday night, after a week of work like this one, and be on the water for 8 hours, with the oportunity to catch a 50 lb fish on any given night. How many people can say they have seen, let alone catch a fish of this size in MN.

The fight is unbelievable. The quiet of the river is great (antisocial). The scream of a clicker just gets me going, and I perfer late nights to early mornings

I can understand the musky nuts, because they are very similar in style. Long hours on the water, chasing a top predator, and always looking for that top 1% of fish out there. It is not a hobby, but an addiction.

Good luck to all this weekend. Be safe, and take pictures

I think a more appropriate post title would be “Why won’t Flatheads stop eating my crankbaits?” But really, I fish for ’em around here for the same reasons stated before, the possibility for a really big fish, there’s a definite mystique to a critter that can eat anything else swimmin’ in the system if he’s in a bad mood!

fillets

My reasons have changed since I started..at first it was the…

sure thing of catching a fish that is big…and I still like catching big fish no matter what kind it is. This hasn’t changed but it’s not as important now.

Many people don’t know that a fish of size can be caught in MN and the surrounding area…so that part is always fun.

Now, it’s truely the look on a newbies face from the time they see the size hooks and live bait we are using to the eye opening, jaw dropping moment the fish comes next to the boat. Nothing beats that moment. I would love to figure out a way to video tape that moment for each of my clients. It’s awesome!

Hey Brian, Strap one of those cameras to a helmut pointing back at their face and push record when its “fish on”!

That would be funny!

I fish for them cause of the challenge and because…. why fish for anything else?

I hate sitting in a boat all day and trolling or casting and catching 15 walleyes.

I love sitting in a boat all night, watching rod tips that I can bearly see and catching nothing.

I don’t really fish for fillets. Just bored at work on a windless day. I started out by tangling with a big one by accident. I learned they have no respect for man or tackle that evening and began to target them and realized what a challenging sport it is. It is relaxing to have the river to yourself and rewarding when you put it all together. My grandfather taught me how to fish and the importance of paying attention to details and patience. Two things that many people have problems with. How many times have you found that “spot” that looks beautiful but you don’t get anything and stubborn persistence eventually pays off. Try harder, don’t quit, learn from your mistakes, success is where inspiration meets perspiration. I also enjoy taking a kid or someone who has never set a hook into a fish that doesn’t move. I am a multispecies guy but big cats are in a class of their own. I wouldn’t say anti social but flathead fishing often gives you time to reflect on your life or share quality time with a friend or child or to enjoy a baseball game. I am not religious by any stretch but I feel closest to god at night on the river. I have quite a few friends who are recovering bassholes. One of them sold his bassboat, and he doesn’t even bother with baitfish anymore.

What other type of trophy hunt can be effective sitting on shore in a collapsable recliner?

In all reality, Brian said what is more important to me.. introducing others to the sport, and helping people experience some of those proud moments of landing a big fish.

Us seasoned guys dont get all that excited anymore over the huge rods, big weights and hooks, bait larger than many people catch for a biggest fish on some days… stick it on the hook and toss it in the water seeing a big, loud splash(nothing subtle about flat fishing)… its enough to fill any newbie with anticipation alone. Then goin onto a bite, seeing the rod thump, or a clicker sounding off at steady speed.. you can nearly see the look of disbelief that something consumed their bait, and the unknown expectations of what is going to happen when you set the hook. It gets even better when it is a large fish that finds current and watching a newbie try to lift an evasive barn door out of the deep…

When the fish get in the boat(or shore), its often knee’s shaking, dumbfounded looks, and displays of achivement vocaly, and huge smiles on their face… and thats just the other newbie that witnessed it and hasnt caught a fish yet

There is no comparison to anything else… and flathead fishing is unique in a way that other species dont allow. There are many effective ways, and areas to fish for flats. Run and gun, lawn chair and grill and wait them out, they even bring accomplishment to walleye guys throwing lures You may not see a picture of the walleyes they caught, but if there is a camera around, a picture willbe taken of the flat!

Phew, for a second there I thought I started a dumb thread that no one would answer.

I think there is really a rebel aspect to it. It sounds like we all get a kick out of people watching us fish who must think we are nuts. My favorite is letting people know I am catching bullheads for bait, not to eat. They generally leave you alone after that. They walk away laughing, shaking their heads or run with a feared look in their eye.

I also agree that it is pretty cool to sit out in a boat this close to the metro and feel like you are hundreds of miles away.

I have to thank Dave again for being the one who showed me the ropes.

Pug most of us are happy you weren’t just laying in your bed pulling your pug.

My knees still start to shake right before I set the hook. Once fish is in the boat, it takes me a few minutes to settle down. Big, small, it doesn’t matter, I still get THAT excited!

I don’t get that feeling from any other kind of fishing.

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My knees still start to shake right before I set the hook. Once fish is in the boat, it takes me a few minutes to settle down. Big, small, it doesn’t matter, I still get THAT excited!

I don’t get that feeling from any other kind of fishing.

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Can I get an amen?

I have had a poll on my website for a long time and this is how it broke down according to the choices I put up (I chose “the hunt”):

Catching huge fish 41 (30%)
Catching lots of fish 3 (2%)
Being out in nature 6 (4%)
Being out at night 4 (2%)
The hunt 8 (5%)
Solitude 8 (5%)
Amazing my friends 3 (2%)
Everything about it rocks 61 (45%)

Personally, I like the challenge of figuring out fish behavior – developing strategies and going out to test them. Of course I also like being on the river at night.

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My knees still start to shake right before I set the hook. Once fish is in the boat, it takes me a few minutes to settle down. Big, small, it doesn’t matter, I still get THAT excited!

I don’t get that feeling from any other kind of fishing.

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AMEN!

The moments between the strike and the hookset are what it is all about. My knees shake too.

Catching one by accident while trolling crankbaits or jigging is not the same as the feeling you get as you set the hook into a flathead that you’ve targeted.

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I hate sitting in a boat all day and trolling or casting and catching 15 walleyes.

I love sitting in a boat all night, watching rod tips that I can bearly see and catching nothing.

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That was my first chuckle of the day and it’s 11pm. Livin for the weekend, etc.

I like the quiet of the river, and the fact that even in 20+ mph wind you don’t get rocked around all day like you would on most mid-lake ‘eye structures. I like that I don’t have to worry about boat control and watching my depth finder and GPS the whole time like I do when I’m trolling for eyes. I love the size of the fish and the fight even in the smaller ones! And Hanson’s right, when you get that bite and haven’t yet hooked into him, the adrenaline is flowing pretty good. It doesn’t do that with an ‘eye for sure. I mean geez, bites are a dime a dozen for those ‘rough fish’

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I mean geez, bites are a dime a dozen for those ‘rough fish’

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It’s official. You are an IDA catter!

This is the IDA salute we give to the other “fishermen” on the river.

I would… but those guys in the other forums get mean.

Oh heck….

I thought about this thread the other night. It was Saturday. During the day I’d asked several people if they wanted to go flathead fishing but there were no takers. My wife told me her parents were having a cookout and “everybody is going”. I told her it was a Saturday night in June, I HAVE to go catfishing, I have no choice. She doesn’t understand.

I got to the river way too early so I cruise around for a while. I see some old guy fishing so I slow down and ask him if he knows anyplace to catch bullheads. “There in here, but they are hard to catch” he says. so I keep riding around killing time. I see a few more boats and I think, it will be nice and peaceful when these guys go home.

Finally it is about 7:30 so I head to my favorite spot. I love the feeling you get when you are all set up on a spot. All your baits are out and kicking. You don’t have to move. You don’t have to cast. You don’t have to listen to you motor. You just have to wait.

8:00

Everybody should be at the cookout by now.

9:00

I don’t see or hear any more boats on the river.

10:00

The weather is perfect, where would you rather be?

Then at 10:15 I get a bite. Just 3 or 4 clicks of the reel and the rod is bent slightly with a slow pulsing motion. Awesome feeling! I pick up the rod, engage the reel, feel the fish and set the hook. I feel the hook pull out of the bait but there is nothing on the end of my line. Crap.

10:30

The family should be home from the cookout by now. I didn’t miss it a bit.

11:00

Coyotes are howling, not many folks get to hear that.

11:20 Bong! A rod sounds. I turn on the headlamp and watch the tip. Nothing, not even a quiver. I shine down the line, it is steadily moving sideways into to timber. I quickly grab the rod and set the hook. Fish on! But I can feel the creak-creak of the line rubbing on the wood. I pull, I let the fish pull, but after a few minutes the only thing I can do is cinch down and pull as hard as I can. The line breaks, but hey, I had one on.

11:30

12:00 I pack up due to the hour and a half it takes me to get home. The weather is still perfect. I think about the people that were at the cookout and my wife explaining where I was. And I thought about what George S. Patton said about war: “God help me, but I love it so” And I thought, that is how I feel about sitting out here for hours, in the dark, alone, waiting.

haven’t caught a big on yet,but keep trying.took a friend flat fishing sat night for his second time,his wife can’t understand why we fish all night and not get a fish,i say just relaxing.pep just don’t understand what setting on the bank all night is all about.like everyone else said out there just maybe the big one will bite tonight

You know that theory that a million chimps with a million typewriters could reproduce the works of Shakespeare? Well they couldn’t explain catting. It’s just something you have to experience first hand.

HERE HERE!

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You know that theory that a million chimps with a million typewriters could reproduce the works of Shakespeare? Well they couldn’t explain catting. It’s just something you have to experience first hand.

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That was good RB. I’m going to pull this thread up in the middle of winter!

You better have the favorite wife mark it on the calendar and remind you. Or if you are like me, if it has to do with fishing you’ll remember. After getting home for a few hours the girlfriend said, “You didn’t even notice my haircut”. I said, “Oh, yeah. It looks nice”. She gave me the look and said, “If I had a fish on my head you’d notice that”. I said, “What did you just say about going fishing?”. She said, “Exactly”.