Hey guys, I am new to fishing for flats and blues and haven't been having much luck out on RC. I know the fish are out there, because a buddy of mine catches them on trotlines, and I am talking BIG fish. One of my problems may be that I don't have access to a boat myself, but surely you can catch them from the shore. What do I need to look for? I can catch channels like they are going out of style out there, along with some bullheads (which was surprising to me). Any help is appreciated. Planning on going out tonight and trying again!

put you a couple of those bull heads on a rod near a creek channel and wait for a goodun!!

Ok, I will try that tonight! Anything else?

its post spawn so you have to be patient.

Well no flats last night, caught 3 channels, threw one back cuz he was too small...also caught just one bullhead which was used as bait with no luck...I'm going to attach a pic and you guys let me know if he is to big for bait, he was about 12 inches himself, a fat ole bullhead.

Hopefully that worked!

No it didn't...hmmm how do ya post pics? fish pic

Ok, I got it on there now, obviously the bullhead is the first one in the pic.

I will tell ya what the ol timers told me.

"Just go by the trees and use a big live perch. You'll catch some nice yella's."

This was before I ever set eyes on the lake. There's trees everywhere, so that info is pretty worthless. Or I guess priceless if it works for you.

Have fished Crab Creek area for over 20 years.
Have great luck for flats in this area.
Fish the trees.

First off, I'm jealous cuz I wanna fish that lake bad. So this isn't specific to RC since I have only banked it there 1X. Blues are easiest in March/April from the bank. Summer bite requires more patience to wait on a big one. If you're targeting 10-15' near structure at night you're in the right area. Make sure your bait was caught fresh and use big chunks right now. Flats I'd be fishin' 3' flats with live bullheads. You'll catch blues in that shallow stuff right now, too.

Since your bank fishing fish all the windy days you can where the wind is blowing into the bank. It's better if the wind is churning up mud.You'll get a lot of channels doing this in the summer but on the real windy days some good blues move in also.

Thanks for all the tips guys, keep them coming! Where I am from there isn't any lakes like RC and we were happy catching 2 lb channels, now I am catching 5+ lb fish on every trip out which is great, but man I am wanting to catch bigger. If you all looked at the picture I have linked, that is the size of the bullheads I am catching, then the 2 channels are pretty typical for what I catch in that area. I guess I am just going to hook up one of them fat ole bullheads and throw him up around the bank and see what happens. Would you suggest that I rod and reel it or set some bank/limb lines and see how those work? Again, I appreciate all the help so far, keep it coming.

Also try a a worm rig for brim, catch brim or bullheads. USE them live for bait. key word ALIVE. flats like brim alive chanells and blues like shad pieces, I like after midnight til daylight. If you can find the moving water like a riverbeb thatll be a plus. A limb line< may catch your bigun, Mesquito larva finds brim, brim finds catfish. At night it is common to find monskers close to shore (within inches). Deep water will be close tho. hope yall sak up a few!

Gonna head out again tonight and give it another shot, hopefully the biguns are biting!

Just got back from the lake, ended up catching 14 fish, only 7 keepers though. 3 Channels and 4 Blues. One of the channels was still full of eggs. Also caught 2 turtles, dang I hate that. One was a red ear slider and the other was a mud turtle. Caught 2 small bullheads, they would have been great flatty bait if I was staying the night, but I wasn't so I just threw them back. All caught on chicken livers. Was fun until the gar moved in, then they would hit my liver right as it hit the water, was interesting. Can see the pic of the fish in my tub at the link following... catfish!

I don't know why nobody has said anything about it yet but we can't see any of these pics. Facebook pics don't work here. Gotta be photobucket or something like that.