flathead catfish question

[Andrea]

I'm from Florida and down here we have flathead tournaments throughout the summer. The biggest one I caught was 18 pounds. But the local "good ol' boys" always wind up with the 35+ pounders to win the contest. The tournaments are held on Appalachicola River. We use live bream for bait. We fish the deepest holes and not-so-deep holes. Can anybody tell me what the trick is?

[Gator]

I've never fished a river, so I ain't much help in that aspect. Try and find the brushpiles, any areas with a ledge, or calmer water. I would stick with the live bream, them big ole flatheads will flat devour them. I know that flatheads are more of a nocturnal fish also, least in my experience. I have a local lake that I fish, smallest flathead was 20lbs, largest 35. I use juglines baited with handsize bream.

[Andrea]

By the time the 24 hour tournament is over there are washtubs filled up everywhere with catfish just like the picture you showed me. The rules state that the fish can only be taken by fishing poles. No trot lines, jug-rigs, or bush hooks. By about the 3rd tournament I was convinced that these guys are shocking the river and tying up their fish til time for the tournament. That's a nice fish...how much did it weigh?

[Gator]

That one was 35lbs, can't brake that mark!!!

[RyanH]

DANG GATOR Looks at them Guns! Thats a dang nice catfish!

[Andrea]

Never been to Oklahoma. Apparently the catfishing's great. My dream fishing trip (freshwater) is to the Santee Cooper Dam in South Carolina. They have caught 100 pounders out of there. (Won't be taking the river boat on THAT trip) Have to bring out the big rig for that one! Do you catfish in the winter months up there?

[Gator]

Nope, seems that the flatties go into a sorta hibernations, plus I am usually to busy hunting. Now the blues are supposed to bite pretty good, but I still don't fish in the winter. There are some monster cats out here, think the state record Flathead is 74lbs, state recoed blue is around 100, I think.

[Andrea]

I hear ya about the hunting. Our season will be over Feb. 27th and then fishing takes over again. Our state record flat is around 48-49 pounds. They say if you break the state record in the tourney then you win a brand new 4x4 Chevy or Ford, boat, trailer, and 4-wheeler. So you can see why these guys get serious about their cats. Maybe I should come up there fishing one weekend and you can catch me a big one and I'll bring it back here in a live well. ( Just kidding)

[Gator]

I'd be willing to bet that them folks are doing something on the side to catch some of their fish, hard to say. All of my fish come out of about a 100 acre lake.

[Andrea]

Remember the scene in "JAWS" when the people are taking off from the docks in their boats and everyone's running into each other and throwing the cherry bombs in the water and dumping chum? That's what it looks like when they blow the horn at the start of the tournament. It's absolutely insane. It's a lot of fun but disheartening to see the guys pulling up with fish as big as they are. Thanks for the tips.

[gfourhunter]

the bigest flat cat i cought was 49 pounds. i have better luck on 3 to 4 inch suckers or sucker cut bait. i like drift fishing rock leges or drop offs or even a shallow flat on a bend of a creek channel. try a shallow flat on the up curent of a deep hole.good luck and send alot of pics

[Andrea]

I'll post my cat pictures tomorrow. Don't have them with me at work today. They don't sell suckers in bait shops here. Don't know why because they are in all the rivers. Thanks a lot.

[VABuckSlayer]

Huntin girl,

We have some pretty AWESOME catfishing here in VA this time of year. Mostly Blues though. A guy caught one in the James River a few weeks ago that weighed 83 lbs.+. We have Flatheads too in the river and I've caught a few. Most of the ones I've caught have been in shallow water around rocks and brush piles. Bream seem to be the best but I caught one in a bass tourney on a plastic worm on a fallen tree. Go figure. This time of year when it's cold the fish are in the deeper holes but when it gets warm in the summer they move shallow. I've heard of 50+ lb Blues being caught in 3' of water. The few Flats I've caught have been in the Summer. Good luck in your tourneys. I might go catfishing Saturday. It's suppose to get to 50 degrees here then! WhoooHooo!

Eric

[Orion_70]

http://www.lagameandfish.com/la_aa072404a/

I grew up fishing with those guys (Bobby Joe and Donnie Hoenke) they taught me everything I know about catching big cats. I was best friends with his son. We've caught them up to 80 lbs., they've got them to 100lb.

[VABuckSlayer]

Here's a picture for y'all. Saw this on another site. I guess red basketballs are good bait for flatheads!

Eric