I suspect I already know the answer, but....Is there anything beside turtles and gar that would appreciate an offering of small mudcats?

I am going to start targeting catfish for the first time this year and also happen to have a small pond that has been totally over-run with mud cat hatches. They have almost killed out everything else. I know any thinning I do will be overcome by the next spawn, but if I could find a benefit, I might not hate them so much.

I have never done it, but they are great Flathead bait.

One of the best Flathead baits you could use.....I have also caught some nice blues on yellow bullheads.

Flatties love mudcat. Use kitchen shears to cut off most of the tail fin. This throws their balance off and makes them constantly struggle to stay upright on the bottom. A more active bait=more flatheads attracted to your bait. Hook them through the bottom lip and out the top. Flats will swallow them head first. Best sizes are 6 to 8 inches long. Oh, and be careful not to let em' stick ya. Those fins are sharp and hurt like heck.

That is a nice surprise. I have an unlimited supply of them and am not real picky at this point about what I catch at this point. I am sure I will probably find a preference as I get educated about the cats.

I am assuming whole and live is the required presentation? See, I told you I was green :-)

Thanks, Phill


Thanks Jeff, I was typing while your post went up and had not seen it. That is the typical size of these. I feed the ducks floating fish food during the really cold winter days and the little mud cats surface so thick, they literally push the ducks up and out of the water. 50 cats per throw of a small cast net would not be an exaggeration.

If I could have any bait for flathead fishing, it would be bullheads (aka mudcats or polliwogs) anyday!! Never had a problem with turtles or gar bothering them as bait.

You've got a flathead bait goldmine!!

start sellin um $2 a dozen catch yourself

I am already feeling better about them! I might even put a feeder out to make sure they congregate every day an hour or two before sunrise at my dock. Or maybe just put a trap out the night before I go fishing.
Now just to figure out where to soak them. I have about two weeks of intense work and then a few weeks off.

This is going to be a fun spring .

Thanks again guys, Phill

Carver although it's possible to catch them year round,for my money March through June is THE time for flatheads. When the water hits 60 degrees you can bet they'll be hungry and spring is one time of few times of the year you can catch them during the day, with dawn and dusk being the prime times. Find heavy cover in a river, be it logjams, undercut banks, or boulders and set up just downstream of it. Fish heavy tackle, otherwise you're inviting heartache when the big one comes calling. So fatten those bullheads up and get ready for spring!

I wish I had that pond of yours

I think that if you used them for cut bait, that the blues would hit them too!!!

I have crappie fished seriously for a few years and can pretty well tell you what they are doing at different times of the year in different weather patterns and water temps.

Suspecting that most of you guys do that with cats, what would you think my focus / expectations or hopes should focus on, in a month from now when I suspect the water temps will just be starting to float up through the upper 40's or lower 50's? If I had the cash, I would just hire a guide for a day or two in the different lakes with the understanding I didn't care about catching, just learning some patterns. I have a Hummingbird si and can detail structure quite easily, but am honestly ignorant of what I am looking for right now.

I fish Hubbard and Lavon because of proximity, but hear great reports from almost everywhere. I don't mind learning some new water and driving a bit.

It's too bad that the feeder creeks will be overrun with sand bass fishermen, Feb to April, otherwise throwlines overnight with mudcats as live bait could catch some monster flatheads. I live near Rowlett creek and it gets shoulder to shoulder. Course there is that little trick slinging catfish stink bait that can clear you some room on either side.

they are good yellowcat bait as they have said, I rate them right behind a gogleye perch, Be sure you have a pair of dikes when you catch them to clip the ends of all three fins. Sure makes them easier to bait with.

That would require a commercial license and a finfish license in order to do so.