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What To Know Before You Go Flathead Catfishing

Flathead Catfish are freshwater catfish found in North America.  Flatheads are a larger breed of catfish, unlike some smaller breeds like channel catfish, and can weigh up to one hundred and twenty pounds.  In North America, flatheads can be found in larger rivers, deep ponds and lakes from North Dakota, west to Arizona, South to Mexico and into Ohio and Mississippi.

You can tell a flathead catfish from other types of catfish because they have flat heads.  The belly of flatheads is yellow and their skin is brown and spotted, almost appearing blotchy in coloring. 

You don’t want to snap your rod right in the middle of a flathead fight, so make sure you bring the right equipment. These fish average forty to fifty pounds and can reach over 100! 

Flathead Catfishing is a sport for anglers and for noodlers. 

Noodling is the art of seizing a catfish with your bare hands.  Since they don’t have teeth, but use suction to grab onto things, you are baiting them to attack your arm, creating a great suction that allows you to lug the catfish out of the water.  There are two things you want to be careful about when noodling.  First, make sure you stab a stick in the hole where you will be putting your hand to make sure a turtle or snake isn’t in there.  Second, make sure you grab some friends because the suction is very strong and there is a chance of being pulled under.

Below are some tips to make your next flathead catfishing trip more successful:

• Fresh, live fish, like sunfish, herring and shad are the preferred catfishing bait for flatheads.
• To keep your live bait ready, make sure you use a cooler with ice to maintain the cool temperature until you are ready to use it.
• Make sure you have the right equipment for a forty or fifty pound fish. Flatheads can reach up to one hundred pounds but you will commonly catch a flathead in the forty pound range. Your rod and reel and fishing line will be rated for the weight of your fish.
• You won’t find these catfish in strong currents. They like to hang out where the water is calm and wait out their next meal.
• Early morning or evening are the two best times to go flathead catfishing.
• The best time to go flathead catfishing is in early spring before they spawn. Spawning happens in later June or early July and you won’t see catfish biting then.
• Flatheads hang out in deep holes and under sunken logs, tree stumps or bushes. They like to stay out of sight during the day in these nice, calm, dark holes.
• Don’t stay in one spot all day if the catfish aren’t biting there. Try some new holes after about thirty minutes of no activity.

And finally remember, flathead catfish are bottom feeders, so make sure your bait is at the bottom of your river or lake to catch them. Now go out there and catch some flatheads.

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