Flathead Fishing

For Flathead catfish the best hooks are probably 6/0 or 7/0 straight trotline hooks using whole live perch hooked like you'd fish with minnows ... insert hook just behind the body cavity above the spine ... they will stay alive for a long time ... well until the first flathead comes along and nails them. Suspended on juglines or limblines or even on rod&reel using weighted corks ... I use 2oz and 3oz weighted corks. The perch should be about 3.5 to 4 inches long ... crappie are great flathead bait also about the same size ... check your state fishing regulations about using them though as they're a game fish themselves. If you're going to use whole perch on juglines like 3 litre or gallon jugs use trotline hooks ... use kahle's for cut bait on juglines. I don't do any jugging or limblining unless it's with the rod&reel trolling motor boat we made. I'm a rod and reel feller and I hardly ever fish with unattended hooks. It just doesn't do it for me. Even using that boat kinda takes the sport outta fishing for me but I kinda like that. We've only used the boat about 4 or 5 times now since August 1999. My favorite way of fishing is rod in hand and messin with the regulars that come to the dam ... I also like to visit mostly as I wouldn't fish in a place that didn't have people to mess with and I wrote the book on messin with people's head's. hehehe.