Flatheads?

[Squarehog]

I've done a lot of catfishing.. Mainly for channel cats. With chicken livers, crawlers or cutbait... There are big Flatheads that roam the lower snake here in Idaho where I'm fishing, I hear Flatheads like a lively bait. We can't fish live bait here so I'm going to try fresh cutbait. I'm all set up for night fishing. Any tips, tricks,rigs for chasing these giants?
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[wiperhunter2]

Are you fishing from shore or a boat? I hear the key is location, along with fresh bait, when fishing for flat heads, so moving around might be your best bet. I'm far from an expert but I have caught a few while fishing in Alabama.
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[Squarehog]

Thanks for the advice. And sorry for my delayed response,I will have my boat so we can move around. We hammered the crappie for an hour before it got dark and then tried cutbait for cats but no luck.
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[wiperhunter2]

I'm not sure if it is legal in your area but cut bait or whole minnows, even crappie can be effective. We caught flatheads on the Tenn River some years back with live shad minnows but I've caught small ones with nightcrawlers.
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[Oskolkoff]

if you look at steck park on google earth you can see a big rock just above the camp grounds thats a good place to start it is even labeled rock island on the map as for bait crawdads and worms work too a 8/0 cicle hook filled with 5-10 worms has worked for me in the past i always hook them in the spring on crappie jigs and crank baits so might try some 30lbs braid and fish crappie jigs and cranks
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[tubeN2]

The Flatheads in my area are no joke. I used to use large feeder Goldfish and found out that live bait was not legal. Chumming is not legal either so I had to devise a scented lure instead.

I use a 5lb can of Tunafish equiped with a treble hook on one side and a split ring to tie to on the other side. I tie this off with 200lb braided line.
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[WheatieBall]

Flatheads prefer live bait but if that's not an option than fresh cut shad or skipjack or bluegill or whatever you can find will work...The key to finding big flats is to find some kind of structure...Big flats love saggy places like sunken logs and such...You will need a rod that has some backbone to keep the fish out of the snags once hooked up and heavier line than usual...If you don't get a run in 15-20 minutes than reel up and freshen your bait and cast in a different spot...Sometimes it only takes casting 40 yards over to catch a good one...Hope you catch a hog...Happy fishing.
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[taftscout]

I'll take note of this thread since I'm planning to do this as soon as I have proper equipment.
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