Flathead catfishing (6/1/16)

[JDTuna]

With the comfortable temperatures and beautiful weather we've been having this week, Chrisper and I decided to spend a few hours chasing some flatheads.* We got to the spot and got everything set up just before dark.

Within a few minutes we got some attention from the locals. It was a odd bite, though. The fish were more or less playing around with the baits, running short distances with the baits before dropping them.* These were either smaller cats, channels or fish that weren't fully committing.

After a short lull in the action, my rod began to get hit again. I looked closely and noticed my line moving slowly parallel to the shoreline. I picked up the rod and came tight and landed a small flathead.


After that, it was pretty quiet. Chrisper had a good run off but the fish dropped the bait. Towards the end of the trip, he caught the biggest rock bass I had ever seen that absolutely destroyed a topwater.

[AirborneNick94]

Nice cat!

[River Renegade]

Sweet kitty nicely done!

[icebadger]

nice job avoiding the skunkin. keep at it you will get a big one sooner or later.nice fish for your efforts jd. by the way nice shorts dude.

[AndyS]

Just have one question. Since NJ DEP does not want these returned to the water but instead destroyed, do you heed the warning ? You don't have to respond, I was just curious.

Andy,

Good question. My sense is most serious cat fish anglers who target these fish release them, at least a high percentage and in particular the larger fish. In this case, NJFG is I think going to have to reconsider their position eventually for a few reasons. First the fishery is thriving and will continue to do so. A single female flat head can lay up too 100,000 eggs a year and they have few natural predators so these fish are not only going to survive in the Big D they're going to thrive. Second how can you have two major states, Pa. and NJ., that have completely opposing regulations regarding the same resource. NJ has a 5 creel catfish limit for the Delaware, flat heads are considered invasive and based on the regulations alone must be harvested. Pa. has a 50 creel limit for all cat fish and flat heads aren't designated as invasive. So the same fish in common waters has different regulations which to me makes no sense especially if one state is trying to remove them from the system. I guess NJ has a specific concern which Pa doesn't share. Either way these fish have established a very healthy presence which I personally don't see diminishing anytime soon, especially if they are successfully spawning and sustainability isn't predicated on future stocking programs which it doesn't seem to be.

[Eskimo]

.


One of my goals this summer is to land one of these.
I do most of my Delaware River fishing in the Sussex County where, from what I have been told, there are a lot fewer Flatheads than the more Southern-New Jersey sections of the river.

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[JDTuna]

Originally Posted by dakota560

Andy,

Good question. My sense is most serious cat fish anglers who target these fish release them, at least a high percentage and in particular the larger fish. In this case, NJFG is I think going to have to reconsider their position eventually for a few reasons. First the fishery is thriving and will continue to do so. A single female flat head can lay up too 100,000 eggs a year and they have few natural predators so these fish are not only going to survive in the Big D they're going to thrive. Second how can you have two major states, Pa. and NJ., that have completely opposing regulations regarding the same resource. NJ has a 5 creel catfish limit for the Delaware, flat heads are considered invasive and based on the regulations alone must be harvested. Pa. has a 50 creel limit for all cat fish and flat heads aren't designated as invasive. So the same fish in common waters has different regulations which to me makes no sense especially if one state is trying to remove them from the system. I guess NJ has a specific concern which Pa doesn't share. Either way these fish have established a very healthy presence which I personally don't see diminishing anytime soon, especially if they are successfully spawning and sustainability isn't predicated on future stocking programs which it doesn't seem to be.

Andy, sent a PM.

Well said, Dakota. Furthermore, flathead catfish coexist with just about every other species in the Delaware in countless lakes, rivers, etc throughout the US. I highly doubt they will cause any issue here.

The cool part about this fishery is learning their habits. Basically just emulate what Fast Eddie does and you'll be successful! Seriously though how many fish can you target in fresh water which can range between a few pounds and 30 - 40 lbs if not larger. While you can catch them at certain times of the year during daylight hours, for the most part this is a night time fishery. Structure, current, bait, moon phase, barometric pressure etc. all factor into their feeding habits. There's much debate about how often they feed from every night to every three days to a few times a month. They have a voracious appetite, small beady eyes and HUGE mouths. It would surprise me if they feed every night based on the size prey they feed on, I would think they need a few days to digest a nights catch before feeding again unless they have a very fast and efficient digestive system. Most fish will spend the entire day under structure for protection, fallen trees, log jams, boulders etc. and prowl at night for their meals. Popular belief is they feed for only a few hours a night and patrol usually within a few miles of their daytime haunt. Flat heads don't like extremely fast moving current so look for them in seems of slower moving runs as well as in holes where the water on the bottom will be slower moving than surface and are excellent ambush points. For those who have tried it, you know how great a fishery it is. One you have to put your time in and pay your dues to learn. For those who haven't tried it, it's a lot of work but the rewards are great. Try fighting a 20 - 30 lb flat head and you'll now exactly what I mean. There was another thread recently talking about bait. This is almost entirely a live bait deal. Cut bait will work and as FE has proven (how I'm still trying to figure out) but they will hit lures as well or in FE's case lead head jigs with plastic swim baits. Quite a feat in my humble opinion! But if your serious about landing quality fish, you need to invest in a bubbler system of some sort, catch or buy your live bait and plan on fishing when most others are sleeping. The hours can be tough but when the time comes when that clicker goes off, you let her run, set the hook and it feels like you snagged a freight train you'll understand the thrills of flat head fishing! Warning to all, it's an addictive fishery that has a certain trial and error phase to learn. Once you start figuring out habits and structure, you're score ratio will quickly improve as flat heads are somewhat territorial and typically once they establish their lairs and feeding zones they will continue to prowl that area to some degree throughout the season although as with all fish seasonal changes will require targeting different holding areas. They're definitely pushing their limits in the Big D further north every year so find good structure and good water with good bait (blue gills, perch, river chub, rock bass etc. etc) and you'll be in prime flat head water. Every night I fish and get the skunk I know I'm that much closer to a bruiser. Had a great trip about three weeks ago. Landed 8 and had quite a few missed run offs. Two fish estimated between 15 - 20 lbs and one 36 in. with a stomach that looked like it swallowed a dozen shad. Fish had to be pushing 25 - 30 lbs. All fish were caught on live perch with the exception of two on live bluegills and released unharmed since I was fishing in Pa. waters! Dropped one fish after a half hour fight (line snapped) and never had her off the bottom more than a few feet. Fish was huge! Went back a few nights later, fished almost the entire night without a touch.........that's the nature of flat head fishing!

Get out and give it a try, it's a different kind of fishing but when it finally all comes together I guarantee you won't be disappointed!

[Delawareriver]

Excellent post dakota and I agree 95%. As far as the two states, Pennsylvania is tough because they are native to western pa and it was hard to get some anglers to understand that they are invasive to the delaware, Schuylkill, and susquehanna rivers but need to bed managed in the western rivers. After several years of promoting removing them from the susquehanna and Schuylkill rivers the population kept growing at a tremendous speed both the quality and quantity of fish. So the pa fish commission knowing it was a lost cause have now started to state since there is no removing or even slowing them down that it would be more beneficial to manage them as gamefish. Keep a few if you wish to eat them (they are delicious) and release the rest. Now for what ever reason the delaware river is different as the population is growing but not nearly at the same rate as the other rivers. I know they are reproducing just fine as I see quite a few small flatheads while bowfishing but rarely see the flatheads above 5-10lbs. Which brings me to the only part i disagree with you as bowfishing I get to see a lot of fish native fish, gamefish, and invasive fish and the habitats they prefer and I can say a good majority of the flatheads we see up shallow are in faster moving water. Typically we see the most flatheads come late summer so I believe spring and early summer you may be better off targeting the slow deeper holes but come late summer shallow riffles and flats with moderate current can be excellent areas to target