TIPS-TACKLE-BAITS

OK FISHER FOLKS, HERES THE DEAL, I PUT A LOT OF WORK INTO THIS PAGE SO ALL OF YOU COULD ENJOY THE BIG FLATHEADS, AND MAYBE HELP YOU TO CATCH SOME!

I HAVE RECEIVED HUNDREDS OF VISITORS TO MY PAGE, AND YET THE GUESTBOOK IS ALMOST EMPTY.

IF I CAN USE MY TIME TO OFFER YOU TIPS AND HELP, DONT YA THINK YA COULD TAKE A MINUTE TO SIGN MY GUESTBOOK IN RETURN, AND SHOW HOW MUCH COOLER YOU ARE THAN MOST PEOPLE.

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WATER:

For Flatheads, The water temperature should be between 55 and 80 degrees, They will sometimes bite below and above these temps if the water conditions are favorable, such as below the dams in the tailrace, when Shad are in abundence.

This is also when they are likely to hit artificial baits such as white Sassy Shad, and Stripper Jigs.

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WHEN:

The best times I have found for Flatheads is the first four hours in the morning, beginning from one hour before daylight. ( I have fishin friends that would argue that point, but this has always been the best time for me! )

WE all know that the best time to fish, Is anytime ya get a chance, I have caught em at all times of the day, i'm just tellin ya when I catch most of em!

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WHERE:

I am most familiar with fishin below our East Texas Dams, such as Lake-o-Pines, Caddo, Lake Wright Patman. The big Flatheads come up stream to feast and spawn in the spring, and a lot of em hang around through the summer, which makes for some good fishin! I am not much on trotlines, limb hooks, jugs, and such but if I can help ya in any way, I will be glad to try!

There is one lake I would like to mention, That is Monticello, Here in Northeast Texas. This is a power plant lake that stays warm all winter, and has great Flathead fishin from November- March, when its to cold to fish Flatheads anywhere else, This is the spot.

Flatheads can be fished here from the bank on the warm water return side, and I know of cats to 65- 70 pounds from the bank.

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TACKLE:

The tackle we use is not much different than your regular Bass fishin equipment, I use a six foot Ugly Stick an Ambassador 5500 and 6000 with 10/50 or 12/60 Spiderwire. I usually use two rod and reels when the water is low and not much current.

In the spring, when the water is high and currents swift, we use deep sea rods and Penn 209 and 309 reels with 50 pound Big Game line.

There's no need to use enormous hooks on the Flatheads, We prefer 3/0 or 4/0 Bronze hooks, Wal-Mart carries an exellent hook, called Whisker Sticker, they only carry 2/0 but I have caught some monsters on these hooks, I highly recomend them!

Next up is weights, When the water is low We use a 1/4 oz. split shot to work our Bream around in the rocks and cover, never leting it sit long. When the water is high and swift, we use 9 oz. weights and let it sit on bottom.

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BAIT:

Now to the important part! Bream, or Sunperch, are my bait of choice. I like to use 2-4 inch Bluegill, Redear, Goggleye, All are exellent bait, Next to them would be the 3-4 inch Threadfin or Gizzard Shad, Shad work good in swift water, and are easy to get with a throw net.

When using Bream, Hook them in the lower lip and bring the hook out the top lip, this way they will live a long time. I hook the shad the same way!

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"CHANNELCAT BAITS #1"

For years, I have watched a good old friend of mine, I'll call him Robert, sit and catch channelcat left and right while I was sitting patiently nearby, waiting for the Flatheads to bite.

Well I finally coaxed that old time recipe from him, and now I will share it with you, this stuff works great, stays on a regular hook, and wont stink ya up to bad! this recipe makes about 3 gallons of the stuff, so if ya want, cut it in half!

• 4 Large Bananas
• 1 Gallon Maple Syrup
• 12 1/2 Pounds Flour
• 4 Pounds Cottonseed Meal
• 1/2 Gallon Cheddar Cheese ( like ya use on nachos )
• ( optional ) Small Tub Of Catfish Charlie

Mix and mash all this together in a 5 gallon bucket, then divide up into smaller fishin containers with lids and refrigerate until ya need it, I promise folks this stuff works great!

??IT HAS COME TO MY ATTENTION THAT A LOT OF YOU WANTING TO USE THIS BAIT CAN NOT FIND THE COTTONSEED MEAL!

COTTONSEED MEAL CAN BE FOUND AT ALMOST ANY LIVESTOCK FEED MILL OR YOUR LOCAL FEED STORE OR LOCAL FLOWER NURSERY, THIS IS ABOUT THE ONLY PLACES TO FIND IT, SINCE THIS IS A MAIN PART OF THIS RECIPE, IT SHOULD NOT BE SUBSTITUTED.

THANKS FOR YOUR INPUT ON THIS MATTER!

"CHANNELCAT BAITS #2"

This has recently became my favorite since I like to drift fish for Channelcat sometimes. From your local market, purchase 1/2 pound or so of fresh eatin shrimp, soak em in VANILLA EXTRACT overnight in a small container in the refrigerator, If ya dont think this works, test it one day when the cats are bitin' Fish one pole with the vanilla and one with regular shrimp and you will see and be amazed!

"CHANNELCAT BAITS #3"

Of course, We all know that there are almost as many recipe's as fishermen, but if ya have a great bait that just stands out from the others, PleaseE-MAIL IT TO ME And if I get enough, I will post a recipe page.

Thanx in advance for your input!

PATIENCE:

Patience is a virtue, was never more true than while Flathead fishin'

It usually takes a while to find that perfect spot for big Flatheads, But once ya catch one, It makes all those days with no bites worth it! This has been a real bad year for use here in East Texas, with no rain, the cats never came upstream.

Back in March 98 They were begining to run and the rain stopped, water fell to early and ended what was looking like a real good year.

Last year was perfect, we caught big Flatheads until we were just wore out, well maybe next year!

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QUESTIONS:

I have been receiving many emails asking for tips, I love getting your email and will always try to reply to your questions, but do us both a favor when ya email me for tips, try to be specific on where ya fish and the water conditions, and what type tackle ya use. This will help me reply to you faster, also if ya have some pictures of big fish (especially kids and fish ) email em to me and maybe I can get a kids fishpage going, Thanks and remember to sign the guestbook!