Flatheads Love Cute Little "Gamefish"

[shb]

What is the cutest little snob fish you ever served up for a Flathead?

A 14inch cute little largemouth?  Maybe one of those fight like a stick cute little walleyes.  :eek:

I think a 2lb bass would stay alive a lot longer than a 2lb walleye on a 14/0 circle hook, but them Big ol' flatheads probably like those walleyes as much as humans do. It looks like a walleye would be easier to swallow than a bass.  Trout are soft and meaty they might stay alive in cat water in the early sping, I wonder how good a flathead bait a 15 inch brook trout would make.  I caught  12 inch smallmouth once which had a healed over hole that went clear through his back just under his dorsal, I guess someone had put him on the all you can eat flathead buffet. I think his name was lucky because I released him also.

I'll tell you about the cutest fish I intend to feed a flathead after I get a copy of this years regulations and see if it's legal.

[tabbycat]

Nobody ever answered ya so I will. I mainly use Goggle eye & Talapia for tabbycats. Ain't found nothing better my friend.

Tabbycat Elkins

[shb]

Hi Tabbycat, when I lived in phoenix all the municipal ponds were stocked with tilapia, and we never caught one.  I was wondering if you were any good at catching them with something other than a cast net.

[tabbycat]

Yes. I am quite proficient with a common hook & cork rig on a cane pole.  
Talapia are bottom feeders.
How were you trying to catch them?
Aside from the cast net that is.


Tabbycat Elkins

[shb]

we were using standard bluegill tactics. Little tube jigs, nitecrawlers, little spinners.  Now tell me exactly how you caught them.

[tabbycat]

LOL Ok heres the deal where I live. A couple of miles from my house there is a fish farm. They mostly raise sea bass in tanks but they also have a small lake for talapia.  Now heres something you need to know about talapia, ...cold water will kill them in a heartbeat. Also when I hook them I run the hook through the bottom lip & once through I turn it so it rests beside their head. Hooking them in the back shortens their life span on the hook.  But I digress as  I was saying the lake constantly has water running through it from a warm water well. The spillway is the head of a small creek that we fish.  Worms or crickets is all you need.

Tabbycat Elkins

[TScottO]

I think one of the biggest problems with using live bait is that most people try to use a really big fish for bait. I’ve had much more success using live bait 3 inches long when compared to hand size panfish. Goggled-eyes are about as tough as they come to stay a live when hooked for bait also gold fish are really tough to kill and do a good job.

Scott

[shb]

Hi Tscotto, thanks for weighing in, what part of Louisiana are you from? I have a good friend that grew up in Monroe and I want to go fisning around venice someday.