I’ve been out a few times in the past week and the flathead bite has been pretty dang good. On the Mississippi the water temp has dropped into the high 60’s and the current is still way down but luckily the fish have not been too hard to locate with the sonar unit. We have had our best success fishing in the head of deep holes and into core (up to 40 feet) or nearby the holes, on the dropoffs, or ledges. My most successful rig has been a 6 or 7 foot medium action berkley reflex spinning rod spooled with 10lb mono, tied to a slip rig with a 1 oz egg sinker, 12″ 20lb big game leader, and a 1/0 eagle claw straight hook baited with shad. I dont know why, but this has been the best setup in my boat and the heavier rigs have seen far less action. This is obviously WAY light tackle for flatheads and I would not recommend it for most situations, but it has worked beautifully for me in open water and low current. Those willing to try this need to be ready to fight a fish for up to 30 minutes or more but this is truly a blast if youre up for the challenge.
In two days we caught 9 flats and the four biggest were 22,30,31, and 35 pounds.
Trust me, if you fish like this it would be best to have a partner in the boat to pull up anchor and help you follow the fish. Friday night I was out alone and hooked into a big fish. It was windy so I had put 2 anchors out. Let me tell you, it was probably the most challenging fight with a fish I have ever experienced. Alone in the dark ,I had to pull up 2 anchors all the while trying to fight this fish on 10lb line. After a 20 minute battle I had one failed net attempt but got lucky on the second and landed it sideways in the net. She measured 42″ long and weighed in at 35lb on the digital scale.
