Fishing Forum

Does anyone want to give me a hint where I can find one? Do catfish bite much in the Winter?
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The Snake River system. I believe your best bet would be Brownlee. I don't know if they'll bite during the winter.
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pretty hard to catch in the winter. brownlee is the spot if you want a flathead but they are slim. out of 100 cats caught there i have only seen two flats and they hit our bass gear. one buddy caught a 40 lber on bass stuff.
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I wish I had some water temps to give you but I didn't write them down. Flat heads don't like cold water. Channel cats are more active year around but not like other fish. I haven't had any luck with flat heads until May. If you fish brownlee you will find them there a little earlier. Later when the water really warms up you will find the, from Parma to Brownlee. They will take cut bait when they first start to get going but later in the summer they want something more alive. That is why guys catch them with bass rigs. Here is a video I found. In this video you can see the channel cats are up and going but the flat heads are on the bottom in a comma. Ron


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gn7JHBQqWRA
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That is really an amazing video! Its almost like they are in a semi-hibernation or something.
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That is what it appears to be. I would like to know the temp that they come out of it.
I have caught several flat heads but so far it has been more of a just get lucky kind of thing. If I throw plugs and spinner baits in search of flat heads in the summer most of the time I just catch channel cats. Last year I tried to target them in one place. This year I am going to try another area and use BIG lures in the 6" to 10" range. Ron
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Ron,
That is amazing video. I remember years ago seeing catfish in dried-out potholes in Texas who would come out of the mud in the spring rains unharmed. But wow, seeing them stacked like firewood and all silted up was something else. Thanks for sharing. Mike
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Have you ever tried using a swimbait, Ron? What about a rockfish jig (basically a 6" curly tail jig used on the coast).

I'd love to catch a flathead, and got a few tips on where to find some up at Brownlee, but haven't had any success.
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No I have never tried the rockfish jig. We used them in alaska for halibut. I don't know why they wouldn't work. Putting them in front of a big flathead is the hard part. Flatheads are considered a trophy fish in the F&G documents that address them. I have eaten a couple of small one's. I would let anything bigger than 5 pounds go. They are the brood fish. Ron
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[cool][#0000ff]Channel cats and flatheads are definitely different in their habits. You can catch channel cats under the ice in the winter but once the late fall water temps drop below about 55 the flatheads settle to the bottom and go dormant.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]This happened even in the waters of southern Arizona. Winter water temps usually drop below 50 and the flatheads "disappear". But when the water warms up again in the spring they come off the bottom and start feeding again.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I was once fishing in early February below Horseshoe dam, near Phoenix, AZ. I was bottom bouncing a jig in fairly deep water, picking up the occasional largemouth or crappie. I snagged up and began pulling to free my jig. The snag was heavy but it slowly came to the top. I expected to see a tree branch or maybe a discarded shirt or something. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that I had fin-hooked a snoozing flathead...about 30 pounds or so. As mentioned in the video, it was covered with silt that was streaming off its back as I pulled it closer. The change in water pressure and increased light must have aroused it. It suddenly turned and powered down...tearing the little jig free from it's pectoral fin. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There are guys in some flathead states that learn where the flatheads winter and go after them with snag rigs. Real sporting.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]If you fish for flatheads you need to know that they are also not like channel cats in the feeding department. They eat only live food...fish, crawdads, crawlers, etc. Best baits are small fish from their natural surroundings. That usually means small bluegill or other sunfish. But I have heard that small squawfish work well on the Snake. Ditto for small carp and suckers.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Flatheads will hit dead baits if you are moving or dragging them. They also hit jigs dressed with strips of cut bait from other fish. It has to have the appearance of live food. But, as has been mentioned, lots of flatties are taken on bass lures...plastics or hardbaits. It is surprising how visually oriented they are in relatively clean water.[/#0000ff]
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[quote TubeDude][cool]
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[#0000ff]If you fish for flatheads you need to know that they are also not like channel cats in the feeding department. They eat only live food...fish, crawdads, crawlers, etc. Best baits are small fish from their natural surroundings. That usually means small bluegill or other sunfish. But I have heard that small squawfish work well on the Snake. Ditto for small carp and suckers.[/#0000ff]
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FYI according to the IDFG General fishing rules

"Note: Use of live fish, leeches, frogs, salamanders, waterdogs or shrimp as bait is prohibited in Idaho, except that live crayfish may be used if caught on the body of water being fished."

Don't want anyone getting busted for using live bait where it's not legal.

Tight lines,
Len

[cool][#0000ff]Good you posted that. I was not advocating that anybody violate the law. Just stating that live bait works best...where legal. Idaho (my home state) is like Utah (my current residence) in that they do not allow the use of live bait. But I have fished all over the country and MOST states DO allow live bait...even bluegills, sunfish and other "game" fish. And wherever you can soak a wiggly live bait for flatheads you will do better.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]That being said, I caught a lot of flatties in Arizona on "sweetened" jigs being fished for other species. Also more than a few on bass plastics and cranks. And I also had a good fishing buddy who landed a flathead over 40# on a big zonker fly he was fishing for bass on a flyrod. That took a while.[/#0000ff]
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I agree with Ron. To me, yellows (flatheads) are just a step above mudcats (bullheads, pollywogs, whatever y'all call them up there). Sure, flatties get huge, but they aren't near as tasty as blues or--best of all--channels.

Of course, you are what you eat, and clean fish come from clean water. Fish a channel cat out of a spillway or stagnant pond and it's going to be just as dirty as a yellow.
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For flatheads, you pretty much have to go to Brownlee. Channel cats are more available. The Snake River holds tons of them. I catch them at Swan Falls during the summer, and fish and game stocks them in several of the local ponds. Lake Lowell is another good spot, though there is a consumption advisory so I probably wouldn't eat them from there.
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