I have always wanted to catch a Flathead but can jus never seem to come across one, i regularly fish catfish almost everyday and run jugs and have caught many blues and channels but have yet to catch a flathead. I have heard they only take live bait and have tried tht multiple times but stilll have yet to catch one, any tips would be greatly appreciated thanks!

Have never caught one on live bait! Fresh cut bait has always done it for me.

I would recommend live shad but they may hit on fresh dead cut bait. I caught my biggest flathead by the rocks near the 334 bridge in Gun Barrel/Seven Points. Good Luck!

River channel and live bait (perch).

Got my only flat (20 pounds) on a nightcrawler,

So you can pretty much catch on jus about anything huh? lol

I've heard that the best bait for flathead catfish is mudcat. I haven't tested this method just yet...but I believe it would be my bait of choice for two reasons.

1. Contrary to popular belief flatheads aren't primarily scavengers...infact according to some source they are the the most predatory fish in our texas waters.

2. Flathead catfish are extremely territorial...and will chase out other types of catfish from their area and even eat them.

Those two facts make using live mudcats the best choice in my opinion. I know people catch them on live perch.

Other things to consider when going after these fish...is their habits. You need to fish at night...or EARLY in the morning...and don't fish deep...you need to find a place...where the water comes out of a deep channel onto a shelf or sandbar. The flatheads do usually make it their home deep...but they come shallow to feed.

Good luck

Your best chances are gonna be with big, lively, struggling bait.. Bluegill, drum, mudcat, big gizzard shad, anything giving off a lot of vibration. It was said earlier that they'll hit cut, which is def true. But your best opportunity is def gonna be big live bait. Cut your leader down to about 8-10 inches too. And remember they're more of a predator so find places where they'll be ambushing baitfish, ledges with cover, creek mouths, sand bar flats, channels next to flats, all that good stuff. Good luck

Live bait, perch is my favorite. Look for creek channesl depth changes and structure.

Alot of help here thanks but Im fishing a lake going dry without any timber to speak of and I think there r a few rock ledges but without a useable boat dock kinda hard to find them I ve heard there r big flatheads and blues but all im catching is small channels??where do I start for the flattys and blues the lake cant be 15' maybe in the deepest spot left

big bait in the deepest holes
Ive caught 24" flats on 14" suckers the bigger the bait and livelier the better

big live perch and big fresh cut shad. power pro fishing line 65lb to 100lb. target big flat rocks and wood.

Ok thank you. I need to brush up on my cast net throwing. Usually with my brother who luckly takes care of the bait but starting to fish on my own a little so i'll use yalls pointers and we'll how I do friday night.

Good luck. What lake are you fishing

They like live bait better Perch, Gold Fish and bullheads. You can catch them on shad live or dead. They will be up in shallow water at night right now.