First SEPA Flatheads of 2014

[JasonS]

Somebody get this man a participation medal!

 

[goodfortune]

It will never get hold because I wasn't joking. I slay trolling with brookies.

Yup...just funnin' with ya bud

 

[SBecker]

Get back to Pa!

 

[somersetian]

Nice fish. Catfishing is plain fun. Your right fly fishing and catfishing is like baseball and hockey, don't compare them and shouldn't. Nothing like sitting back drinking a cold beverage waiting for something to take the bait.

 

[AndyP]

Nice fish Mute. Maybe I'll join you when it gets too warm for chasing trout. I have a nice surf rod setup I could use for those 40 pounders.

 

[BrookieChaser]

Edit: I looked it up. No receipt needed. My post is moot.

 

[SBecker]

Legally taken gamefish may be used as bait. It is unlawful to use or possess goldfish, comets, koi and common carp as baitfish while fishing.

 

[timmyt]

Oh yeah its legal, then again there are lots of whacked out things that are legal

 

[Fishidiot]

This thread is a better fit with the WW forum and will be moved shortly.
Thanks,
Dave

 

[FarmerDave]

SBecker wrote:

It will never get hold because I wasn't joking. I slay trolling with brookies.

Yes you do.

On here of course.;-)

 

[FarmerDave]

34 pounds tops. :lol:

Hey, somebody had to go there.;-)

Nice fish.

It's all good.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

He caught them on a 3wt with 10x tippet, son.

 

[Fredrick]

Nice fish mute . Its a shame about the Skuke and the Perk with the smallies I hope the same thing doesn't happen with the D . I'm curious when the flatties with start to taper off .

 

[BrookieChaser]

Deleted.

 

[codym21]

Nice fish mute, Im gonna try to catch one on the fly this year have talked to some people who have done it in the midwest

 

[slay12345]

Thats killer fun! I haven't targeted catties for a couple years, and when I did it was never anything that big. But this winter I got a spin fishing rig set up to go after them in the susqy. I hope to find something that size or bigger.
What is your set up for chasing these big boys? Are you laying bait on the bottom or using floats like a santee cooper rig? Circle hooks? What size?

 

[mute]

by slay12345 on 2014/5/30 9:33:03

Thats killer fun! I haven't targeted catties for a couple years, and when I did it was never anything that big. But this winter I got a spin fishing rig set up to go after them in the susqy. I hope to find something that size or bigger.
What is your set up for chasing these big boys? Are you laying bait on the bottom or using floats like a santee cooper rig? Circle hooks? What size?

Circle hooks\octopus hooks in a size big enough to leave a big enough hook gap when hooking live sunnies about the size of my palm. Two ounces of weight, a bead to protect the knot to the swivel, 12 inches from swivel to the sunnie. Chuck to the bottom of the river, wait 15 minutes and watch the rod tip touch the water.

 

[jifigz]

Nice looking fish and I think that catfishing is TOTALLY AWESOME. I fish the Juniata a lot for Channel Cats and sometimes even chase them with lures at night with spinning or baitcasting gear. A channel cat will viciously attack minnow baits, tubes, etc if you know where there feeding grounds are and where they show up at night. I have heard Flatheads are in the Juniata now and maybe I'll have to try and find one.

 

[marcq]

gonna be my second summer doing the flattie thing. its one of my favorite types of fishing now. skuke has really good population of them and its easy to get fish into the mid 20 pound range.

as for rigs pretty simple as mute said. I like a fish finder rig with a 7/0 or 8/0 circle hook. 40 pound leader. I have a penn battle 5000 with an ugly stik tiger. bait I uses sunnies medium seems to be best but the best bait is a live sucker if you can get them.

as for a season regarding freds question. guys start in march but its slow fishing seems to pick up once water hits thhe magic number 55 degrees. as for now its gonna shut down for about a month give or take a week cause the fish are spawning. last Thursday was a crazy night right on Kelly drive. had four or five fish for three of us. its not a spot that produces that many numbers but there are big fish there. tonight two little guys on cut gills. my guess all the big fish are spawning and it usually happens around the moon cycle. once its over they will be on the chew again till winter.

marc

 

[Mike]

Flatheads thrive in habitats that are poor for smallmouth. Where the habitat has substantially declined in the Schuylkill - Limerick to Phila - so have the small mouths for the most part. This just happens to be the stretch where the flatheads are doing quite well but it is unlikely that there is a cause and effect relationship between the flatheads and SMB.

I will add that the lower Susquehanna is great for flatheads, yet in the past 1.5 years the small mouths have made a very substantial return from York Haven to Safe Harbor Dam. It remains to be seen whether or not it lasts.