I'm getting ready for flathead fishing this year, I plan to do a lot of it this year and I will be bank fishing. I live in Ellis county which is near-ish dallas. My problem is that all the lakes around are lacking the classic deep timber filled creeks and branches I've been told to look out for and it's put me in a place where I don't know where to start. Any tips, spots, tricks, or even hints? It would be greatly appreciated.

I cut my teeth on Flatheads when I was a kid. Yella cats were the kings of catfish back then. We had our best success at the tail race of lakes but we also caught them on rocky shorelines with boulders, and in the creek channel with timber. Flatheads are nocturnal mostly so we caught 90% at night or first light. You can still catch some in the day in current at the floodgates but most of our best trips were at night. You don’t catch a lot of fish when targeting them. My lake used to be the best Yella cat lake in the country but it’s population of big Opps was decimated years ago and the big fish never returned. I switched to bluecats cuz they are easier to catch in the daytime and there are a lot more big blues these days than Yellas.

I sure hope you hang a good one cuz catching those big Ol Flatheads made as big an impact on my life as anything I can remember. But beware, If your lucky enough to catch some then you will most likely catch the big cat fever which will set you on a never ending journey to catch big fish for the rest of your life. It can really mess ya up good!

Here is a Polaroid pic of ol Azul back in 1990 when I was a scrawny 15 year old kid and the Big Cat Fever was just taking hold of my brain. I’ve caught 1000 big fish since then but I still remember those trips like they were yesterday! Good luck and let us know how it goes.
.

Flatheads are what I grew up on. It's typically pretty slow but the reward is worth it. If you're limited to lakes, rocky shorelines on flats, near deep water, river channels etc.. Use live bait. Bigger and livelier the better. Green Sunfish is my number 1. Large Gizzard shad, puppy drum, mud cats, followed by Bluegill. I prefer a shorter leader (9-10 inches) with a Gama Oct Circle in 8/0, a Team Catfish Mighty Wide in 9/0, Gama Oct in 9/0, depending on bait size and situation. 2 oz no roll at a minimum. 50lb leader at a minimum. Heavy cover or current, I can the leader and run the sinker and bead straight to the hook, but that's more of a river presentation. As the night goes on they'll move from their heavy cover haunts and move out to find bait. They'll casually cruise and eat. have a bait or two close to shore, don't be afraid if it's in a a foot or two of water. Rivers/creeks are certainly easier to target them but lakes can be productive also. Give them some line when they take the bait. Good luck.

Thanks for the replies guys! I do have access to rocks, namely at the base of just about every dam and after your comments I'm thinking that floating some sunfish down the riprap might be a good option. I also have access to a couple different spillways. Ironically the lake closest to me is Joe Pool and it has an abundance of timber but it's mostly known as a bass lake and I've only caught channels in the 1-4lb range, I've heard rumors that there are good flats there but I don't know if that's true and I don't want to focus my efforts there if there's no real chance at a big un'. Has anyone here caught flats from Joe Pool or seen any good ones pulled from there?

Caught Flat heads my whole life from various lakes but never on Rod. Always trot lined for em. Good luck to you. You can look on the Navionics website and get detailed lake info that shows depths and drop offs and river beds. Maybe you can find something on there that is close to the bank you are fishing. Shows all texas lakes.

If you're looking for timber filled branches, off the main lake, North end of Whitney. More submerged timber than I've ever encountered on any lake I've ever fished. From 5 foot to 35 foot, and everywhere in between.

Rocks are good spots, coves with creeks channels near by and structure are good too. Submerged rock piles and road beds are also really good spots to look. Live bait is the way to go, small drum, bluegill/sunfish, carp/Buffalo/quillback, suckers, and bullheads are all really good bait options for flatheads. Gizzard Shad are also good but not nearly as easy to keep alive as the other options.

Check out River Certified on YouTube. Flathead fishing fool

You live by a lake that im sure has some and pretty old lake. Bardwell..just hard to get any info from anyone that fishes there. There are some pictures in the marina of
some big cats.

I fish Bardwell all the time, caught my PB Blue there, fantastic cat lake. That said I've yet to catch a flat there and and the only structure reachable by bank is brush and sticks in 1-2 ft of water. It will definitely be one of the lakes I focus my flathead efforts on this year.

Also, throw everything conventional about what would be considered a big bait out the window. A 5 lb flathead can eat a bluegill 7-8” long. If you can throw them, 2-3lb baits would be fine. I have used drum in the 12-14” range and landed 10 lb fish, so don’t be afraid to use some big baits.

Flatheads were my first big fish too. Back up home in Southern Illinois we fished the sub-impoundments on Rend Lake. Live bream was the only bait we used. My PB was 45 pounds, I remenber it like it was yesterday...

Hubbard has a much better population of flatty's and some better bank access than the lakes you have in Ellis Cty. Just a thought.

Thanks TRH, that seems to be hard info to find. I frequently make the drive to Lewisville so I could definitely give Hubbard a try.

OK, first off, you might want to hit them when they run (their feeding pattern). So use my "Lynn's Catfish Calendar" (see that thread). In the 2018 thread, several posted a few Yellows & one posted a Blue.

One of them "Miller time..." has gone back & retrieved (read) all of the data since I started posting back in mid 2010. He is now a Master at using the Calendar for Yellows. Many others use, be it for Yellows or Blues, or Gator Gars. In fact, some even plan their fishing trips by it. The links to previous year threads are found in the January calendar post of each year. In the 2021 thread, it lists them back to 2010. I discovered the "Calendar" back in 1981. I tested 3 rivers with it, then phase 2 was in a lake (Lake Limestone). It is not just for Texas either. Some use it in Oklahoma.

Some bass fishermen that also like to catch YellowCats, come over to retrieve the monthl;y calendar, because they know it works.