Bullheads

[TMF89]

Hey guys, amatuer catfisherman question: What do you guys do for big flatheads? I know it's river-fishing at night with bullheads/suckers, but a few questions. What's optimum size for bullheads? I have a lake that I can catch them pretty regularly, enough to have at least a dozen and a half in an hour or two of fishing. How would you transport them? It'd be a good half hour from that lake to the river, not to mention getting the bullheads from the lake to the boat, then to the river while launching, then to the actual hole for flatheads. Would a sizeable cooler with an aerator cover this? Once this thread gets going, expect a few more over the course of this week. I don't want to spend 20 or 30 lines in one post asking all my questions, because from experience asking and answering I know some of them will get ignored, so I thought I'd do it in segments. Thanks for your time guys!!!

[Scott K]

Maximum size is 7"thats about what I fish with. An aerator in a cooler works best , thats what I will use on an overnight stay. Bullheads are east to keep alive, thats what makes them good bait. Although, in this cooler weather I would use suckers, or creek chubs as a first choice.

[TMF89]

Why would those be your first choice?

[Scott K]

This is just my opinion. I like using bullheads in the hot summer months, they are alot easier to keep alive, and after you hook them they stay more lively. In my expierence flatheads in cooler weather when the water temps drop below 65 degrees prefer creek chubs first, then suckers 2nd, I will use a bullhead if I camp over night, in the fall, or early spring. I am sure others have their own expierences with them that dont agree with me, but this has just been my expierence. Then when water temps drop to below 50 degrees I will switch to a big glob of crawlers. In which the walleyes will like that alot also. But for me bullies in the warm waters.

[DTro]

I've always had much better luck in the spring with bullheads, even though the water is still pretty cold.

Then the creek chubs/suckers seem to outproduce post spawn till winter. Best case is that you have more than one person, and can try a variety of baits till you find some sort of pattern (good luck with that)

[harvey lee]

Spring time is bullies for me and then I always try to take every bait possible with and try until the fish eat something and go from there.

[rushing]

Bullheads work all season long but pre-spawn they work the best. Post spawn creeks or suckers seem to be preferred but are sometimes incredibly hard to keep alive.

[Larry FlatCaster]

Tip of advice.

If your just getting into Flatheading. Go through the old forums and read the posts there. You will be surprised how many questions you have will get answered as well as questions you never thought to ask.

It will shorten your learning curve considerably.

[TMF89]

Thanks for the tip, I'll start doing some searching, but I do have another question. As I mentioned earlier, the heaviest sinkers I can get my hands on (locally) are around 1-1 1/2. I know I want at least 3 ounces (maybe 4?) for keeping the bait on the bottom, but I can also get ahold of those sinker snaps, which slide up and down your line, and use snap swivels to hook the sinkers on. Now I was thinking, wouldn't putting 3 or 4 of the 1 ouncers on one of those be just as easy? And I think the shape of the multiple sinkers might even help it hold onto the bottom, more surface area! What do you guys sink? Oh and they're bell sinkers, if that matters at all.

[Grant]

TMF- I get my bank sinkers at Cabelas, since the Rogers store is only about 20 mins from my place.... my rigging goes as follows- first I cut about a 18-24 inch piece of braid off my line, and tie a big swivel on it with a Palomar knot. then I run the mainline thru the eye on the bank sinker- I use these exclusively, their cheap and have yet to fail me- 2 oz for light current and bait, 4 oz for heavy current and bait. I then tie the leader portion to the mainline, this hold the sinker in place. I then tie the hook to the free end of the leader, to whatever length I want and trim the excess. usually an end result of about 10 inches works well, the bait can move without going too far and snagging up on you.

an added bonus of this way I've found is every time I have to break off due to snags, I'm retying onto a segment of line that hasnt been beat up and frayed.

Another tip- on the Palomar knot, especially in braided superline, once you have your loops made and the tackle pulled thru the end loop, get the knot itself wet with spit before pulling it tight. this makes the line slide over itself MUCH easier and smoother.

as far as multiple sinkers, I did try that a few times when I was out of heavies this spring, and whereas it did hold, it also seemed to snag up more... not saying it always does, that was just my experience.