Figured I'd go directly to the fountain of knowledge here...or indirectly since I believe you also talk with some of the best commercial cat-fishermen in the South LOL.

Pic for street credibility...



It turns out that waaaayy back in the 80's when people told us we definitely never caught a flathead out of the western basin of Lake Erie, they were wrong. It also turns out that there is evidence of a spawning population in the Thames River at Lake St Clair. Now, I want to catch one and document it (for ADHD reasons LOL).

I catch loads of channel cat, big ones too, but I am wondering if there is a better way to target flathead specifically? Different habitats? Different bait? Issue here is that use of live sunfish and many other species is illegal, so I am a bit stumped. I'd take an incidental, but I'd rather do this right if possible.

And I ain't ashamed to say I'm not the expert on some things...help?

If you can't use live bait, try crankbait...




Ol dad

As for location,

One of the Old Riverrats here would go channel cat fishing in the snags and brushpiles with deeper holes durring the day...If he caught small channels he would find a different hole to fish flatheads that night.

That's true. If you run boxes or hoop nets and catch a flathead it'll be the only fish caught.