Its that time of year again, lilacs are blooming the mosquito’s are out and the frogs are chirping. All true signs of summer that correlate with the hot prespawn bite of the Flathead Catfish.
The Flathead is one of the largest game fish next to the Sturgeon, they can grow to a size in excess of 60 pounds.
The Minnesota River is famous for big Flathead catfish and the bite has just started to ramp up with many large fish being caught in the last week.
We had a lot of confidence that we would be able to find some fish. The water level is dropping at a pretty steady rate at about one foot every 2 days, and its finally warming up now with the better weather. The bite has been late in starting this season compared to the last couple years due to the cool temps and late spring. The Flats need to start preparing for the upcoming spawn and its amazing how quickly the switch just flipped on over the last week when the water temps hit the 60’s.
The preferred rigging for these fish require some heavy equipment. We were armed with 50lb Power pro on heavy action rods with Abu 6500C3 Reels. Our preferred tackle is 10/0 Gamakatsu Octopus hooks, mono leader of 40lbs, swivel, bead and a no roll weight or bank sinker between 3-8 oz depending the size of the baits and current. As the flow is dropping you can find these fish in snags, creek mouths, deep holes or any other area that might hold bait and have breaks in the current. Bullheads are the bait of choice this time of year, there have been some fish that have been caught on cut bait. You can stock up on supplies or get completely outfitted at Moore’s Bait and tackle www.mooresbait.com
We had the great fortune of boating 7 Flats in our two most recent outings, ranging from 2.9lbs all the way to over 40+lbs.
Shamu finally struck Flathead gold shattering his previous personal best Flathead of 27lbs for 3 years with a monster over 40lbs. If your into big fish you might want to give this a try.
Come to the Minnesota River Forum if your interested in seeing live video of the 40lb from the hook-set to the release.
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Good stuff! We originally had plans to be flattin tonight, but it was my night off, so you know what that means….100% chance of rain. Glad someone’s out there doin it….nice fish!
That MN River has been smoking hot!
Nice report and photo’s Larry!
7 flats, awesome night
Way to go Larry..hey I enjoyed the videos also
Nice work!!
Great report Larry!
i had about a 15 pound flat snagged in the side one time and got it to the bank and lost it. it’s my only encounter with a flat so far. what’s i like catching those monster?? i know they pull pretty hard. anyway, awesome pics and good report