Silt on Flatheads backs??

I don’t know Matt. The more I look at this wintering fish, the more questions I have that challenge what I have like you, come to believe.

I don’t have the answers, but I do have the questions!

Some of the flats do not have any silt/sand on their backs.

Many have a gritty sand that one would think is too heavy to be called silt.

One location had a few flats wintering in it, now they are gone. This one might be explained because I saw a photo of a flat boated and release there. I do not know how many were caught…but the dozen or so that were wintering there are now gone. Other factors may be involved here that have nothing to do with fishing too as the flow and levels have changed since I saw them last.

Does anyone have a house boat we can anchor above a pile of wintering flats? I think six or so weeks video and monitoring the river changes might confirm some “set in stone” thoughts we have or change them completely.

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Does anyone have a house boat we can anchor above a pile of wintering flats? I think six or so weeks video and monitoring the river changes might confirm some “set in stone” thoughts we have or change them completely.

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Maybe Mike Roe could narrate it?

I guess I don’t know what you think is our “set in stone” belief about wintering flats, Brian.

The way I picture it, they move around only when they need to, but they may need to any number of times over the course of the winter depending on flow and siltation. Even at its lowest flow, the river is carrying and depositing sediments – and those settle out in precisely the kinds of places cats are sitting. So sediment is a big factor if you ask me – I think whole habitats are abandoned when the flow gets too low as well as when it gets too high.

The more perfect their location, the longer they can go without moving, but even then the movement in and out of other cats can silt them up to the point they have to move. If the heart of your question is whether they go a day or a week or a month without moving, I don’t really care. The main point is that they’re moving to find a better place to sit – not to forage. And those “better places” are pretty popular – so they literally stack up. Those things make them vulnerable and they should definitely be protected during the winter.