My brother and I want to try our luck at catching some flathead’s. What advice do you guys have as far as bait, locating, structure, depth, rigging, tackle, etc… We are going to be attempting this down on the Mississippi near dresbach/lacrosse area this coming weekend. I appreciate any and all input!
Go to a few of the forums and read old reports. The first one I would go to is the Mississippi River Catfish forum. Go through some of the reports by guys like Briank, Larry Flatcaster, Fisher Dave, Dtro, Hanson and a host of other guys. Also check out the Minnesota River Forum, and the newly formed Catfish forum. There is not years worth in the Catfish forum as it was just started a month or so ago, but you will find all the info you will ever need.
Good luck, and let us know how you do 
OOH there are some pigs down where you guys are at!!
Bring a GPS and make sure you can use it. Good luck out there and get out fishing now!
Make sure you report your catch with some pictures!
Winkels,
Here’s a couple of videos on rigging and setting the hook. Becareful that there aren’t any women around…this guy is handsome! 
Here’s another with good feed back on location.
Your question sounds like it should have a easy answer…but the regular cat guys here could write a book on this.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions at anytime. Someone will chime in.
Quote:
Winkels,
Here’s a couple of videos on rigging and setting the hook. Becareful that there aren’t any women around…this guy is handsome!
Did you forget something brian???? 
Thanks, I think it was bed time when I posted…er didn’t post this!
Thanks!
Now do you have to let the flathead play with the bait for awhile or is it just inhaled and better set the hook quick? Any rule of thumb to that?
I have caught 1 flat head when drifting a lindy rig down there. I thought I snagged the bridge pillar. It was only a 8-10# but it was fun.
I wouldn’t wait a second after they have it. Especially true if you are fishing close to wood. You give them 5 feet and you will never see your rig again. Most cats on the feed will hit hard and try to eat there kill right there. You really don’t want them to swallow the hook. Don’t be shy and give some wimpy bass hook set either (unless you are using circles where you just reel).
Not much on the bass gig! Don’t have to worry about the weak hook sets!!
Would it pay off to drift threw areas to locate fish and then anchor? How do you search for new holes? Will they be mixed in with channels? If we pick up some channels should we stay put or move along?
I spent close to 3 hrs yesterday read old posts! I started taking notes!
Nothing beats time on the water. Big cats rest in deep water with current and wood. Not necessarily all three and rocks are good too. Active fish won’t tolerate a lively bait near them for more than 20 minutes or so. Stick and move until you develope your “milk run” of likely spots. Once you know what to look for they are obvious. Once night falls I look for shallow feeding areas close to resting areas. They do cruise weedlines sometimes where you would least expect to see a big cat.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
