First I will begin my theory that trophy flathead feed more often during rains than they do when it does not rain. I can verify this by greater catch rates recorded on rainy nights. This information comes from 20 years of fishing logs that I have recorded. When comparing nights it rains to nights it doesn’t the ratio is 3 to 1. This is a striking statistic that could not be a coincidence with more than 800 nights logged.

Rains tend to aerate and cool water. Heavy rains may cause water to rise or become muddy. Rains usually accompany low pressure weather systems. After considering many possibilities of why flathead preferred feeding during rain, I developed my theory.

Most baitfish depend heavily on sight to avoid predators. At night the flathead use their advantage of superior smell/taste to locate baits. To compensate the baitfish remain very still and rely on vibrations of predators that they feel through their lateral line.

At this point I would like to point out that catfish put out less vibration than scaled fish. Their skin slips through the water with less vibration than a musky or bass. They can normally get closer without detection but lack the speed and agility for a long chase.

My theory is that flathead prefer to feed during rain because the rainfall causes vibrations that mask their movements to baitfish. They learn that their advantage is greater and their hunting success better when rain is falling. Although flathead are great hunters, I believe they prefer to get meals as easily as possible. Rainfall will also diminish what little vision remains to the baitfish.

2

Many flathead fishermen claim that you cannot catch flathead during spawn and they are semi-dormant after spawn. Many do not fish at these times because they are not as productive.

Male flathead do not feed while guarding nests or fry. They do however drive the females from the nest after fertilizing eggs and the females begin feeding immediately. Not all flathead will spawn and certainly not all flathead spawn simultaneously. So even if a substantial amount of the population will not feed, there are still fish actively feeding during the spawn. I also have experienced declines in catch rates following the spawn. It seemed odd because male flathead expend so much energy during spawn that I knew they often lost ¼ to 1/3 their total weight. I knew the males must feed heavily to regain fat reserves to survive winters.

So if the fish must eat I was either fishing the wrong area or not fishing with what they were eating.

This year was an exception. I had trouble getting bites after spawn.

I tend to examine my flathead closely to take note of deformities or scars. I began noticing that almost all the large cats I caught after spawn and through the summer smelled like shad.

My theory is the flathead do not change locations after spawn. Flathead are opportunistic and feed on the most abundant easiest meals to catch. They concentrate on young shad that are easily caught and quite abundant. It is entirely possible that the flathead simply ambush shad from their home spot and do not need to hunt at all.

Small shad would not survive long on a hook even if flathead hooks were small. My experimentation with cut shad has resulted in lots of fish but no flathead.

Also the lakes I fish were low all summer. Most brush is near banks where it has fallen from shore. When water is low panfish have less cover to hide and evade predators. I don't tend to favor this theory because if any flathead hunted at all I would have contacted a few.

In years when shad populations are low, the flathead are forced to hunt other prey. Their success rate at securing panfish or small carp may be lower and force them to hunt harder. If they must hunt more often or longer to get enough food our success rate will rise. Sustained hunting or multiple hunting sessions will increase the odds of flathead hunting over our baits.

3

Some people claim that flathead prefer cut bait to live bait. Most often this comes from river fishermen. I have caught smaller flathead on cut baits while drifting Santee Cooper. I feel the flathead reacts in a split second to a moving bait that smells like a fish and confuses the cut bait with a live fish.

In my experience, flathead in reservoirs almost always prefer live fish. There is an exception early in Spring and I have a theory about that exception.

As waters warm in Spring, flathead leave their wintering holes. They have been innactive and their entire systems have operated at reduced rates for several months to conserve stored fats. They have not fed for 2-3 months and their digestive tract is empty.

As they make their way to warmer waters in back bays, they are still lethargic. Optimum temperature for flathead is 70-80 degrees and the cold water and long winter work together to make them slower than normal.

They must find a meal and there are not yet any young of the year fish hatched. Their digestive tract has shrunk and they need something soft to get the juices flowing and the entrails opened.

In the back bays are winter killed shad. Washed into bays from feeder creeks by warm Spring rains. An easy meal that is easily digested.

My theory is that flathead will eat once or twice on winter killed shad but once their digestive tract is going and they have a little energy they will feed the rest of the season on live fish.