You know flatheads can be very confusing and elusive to many anglers out there, so let me share a quick tip to help you curb your frustration.
If you are just getting started flathead fishing, I want you to think like a boxer. That’s right, stick and move, baby.
Oh, sure, the traditional build a campfire or throw the anchor and hunker down for the night can be productive ways to catch flatheads at times, but listen to me here.
First of all, you learn nothing sitting on your duff for eight hours. Yes, you may get lucky, but let’s make our own luck.
Flatheads love cover, so let’s find cover in the form of trees, rocks, bridge pillars and more, and let’s work it. Whether you’re on the bank or in a boat, get baits on this cover.
If 30 minutes passes without luck, move and hit more cover until you meet success. The theory I have preached to my clients for years is “put good baits in good spots repeatedly and you’re gonna run into fish.”
This tip has a thousand variables, and in upcoming issues, we will try to discuss them all. Go catfish!
(Matt “CatMatt” Jones is a lifelong catfisherman from the northwest corner of Illinois. He’s also a long-time guide, speaker and writer who enjoys spending most his time chasing big flatheads. “I caught my first catfish at six years old, and the fire just kept getting bigger from there,” he says. “Every new tactic was just another twig on the fire. Now, almost 50 years later, catfishing still fuels my passion. Along the way, I’ve learned a thing or two, and passing on my passion is what I enjoy most.”)
