possum
-
Posts
3,311 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Articles
VIDEO'S & other MEDIA
Forums
Store
Downloads
Events
Gallery
Posts posted by possum
-
-
Macfish,
I use 3 hooks 99% of the time for flatheads. 5/0 and 7/0 Daiichu Wide Gap circle Lights and the same as you use Gamakatsu 8/0 Circle Octopus.
I also use Kahles 5/0, 6/0 and 7/0
With Flatheads if you ain't getting snagged you ain't in the right place! I try to fish as tight as I can to snags like falled tree or rocky areas. I set the drag awfully tight on my PENN 320GT2's so I can turn his big ugly head around before he heads back into that snag and hangs me up. Get him in open water and I got him!!! LOL
It takes a 30lber. to pull any drag at all. 40lb. Big Game is awfully strong line and on my "Big Reel" I use 60lb. Big Game, its a horse of a reel, a Master 189 hold 400yds. of 60Lb.
No Blues here so I don't know diddly squat about them. Keep after them Flatheads and you'll get into them.
WARNING: Flatheading is addictive!!! Ain't nothing I ever caught that has that kinda bull strong power.
Heres one from last year.
-
Stripped go to cut bait now and live later. Use the heads, cut them off right behind the gills and hook them thru the eye sockets with a 5/0 - 7/0 hook.
Use gills and smaller bass in the 6"-8" range. I usually try to cut them at an angle to include some of the gut pocket. If theres flats where your fishing theres a real good chance they'll hit those heads. But its usually not the BIG ones! But you never know?
Come warmer weather in June go to live. Or cover both bases and fish cut and live. Thats what I do early and late to see what they are hitting. Then go to what they are hitting with both poles or 3 or 4 poles(how many ever I'm fishing)
Macfish,
Yea buddy those flats are some powerful rascals. I've seen 30lb. go ping!
Try using some cut too if legal where you live, use the heads!!!! They like them heads alot.
Its a game of patience fishing for flats. sometimes its quick and fast but usually slow. Remember theres usually not a great number of flats per hole, snag or whatever cover. catch a few and move to the next hole.
Probably one of the better flathead rigs are as follows: hook 5/0-7/0 on a 12" leader to a swivel, rubber boilie stop bead and a 2oz. no roll sinker. I like the rubber boilie stop bead better than the hard plastic beads.
-
Congrats on the fish. It is illegal in Texas to use bass heads. Do you ever use live bait for flats.
Oh yea I use live bait too. They weren't hitting live last night so I went to cut.
Several years ago I found when they are hitting cut its the heads they like best.
I've also found that when the water is cool you'll catch more on cut than live. The water temp was 58.2 last night. Once it warms to 65 I use live bait almost exclusively.
We can use any kinda fish live or dead as bait in WV. But Largemouth Bass are my favorites to use for 2 reasons. flatheads love them and Bass Lovers hate it!
Here Bass fishermen turn there noses up at us Catfish and Carp Fishermen. So me being a "Rebel Rouser" I usually ask these Bass Snobs when they come by in there $40K Bass Boats doing what I call "Cast and Reel" (fishin for bass) what are ya'll fishin for bait? That usually gets them going. Then I hold up a bass outta the bait bucket and tell them Boys they make real good bait! LOL
-
Got on the water at 730pm and baits set at 745pm. Water Temps at 58.2 degrees.
Wasn't long and I had boated a 7.5lb. Flattie at 755pm. Around 830 or so here comes a HUGE log floating down the river on a collision course with me and the boat. Reel in, Pull anchor and get outta the way.
Decided to move up to my next area about a 100yds. away. Got back in the water at 845pm. At 912pm I had boated a 7.5lb. Channel. Then at 924pm I had one get off (felt in the 7-8lb. range).
At 943pm I had a 4lb. Flattie then at 1048pm I boated a 8lb. Flattie.
Not done yet and at 11:09pm I had my last fis of the evening a 6.5lb. Flattie.
All fish caught on either Gill Heads or Bass Heads.
What made it special for me even though no biggies were taken was that back in April my nefhew and I scouted out the river. We found likely snaggy area with Log Jams and Big Rocks and marked them so we could find them again when Flatheads start biting.
I set up on two of the marked spots and caught Flatheads at both locations.
A good night on the Mighty Mon!!!
-
Well Good Luck!
I went last night and caught 4 Flatheads and one Channel.
Flats were in order caught 7.5lb. 4 lb. 8lb. and 6.5lb.
Channel was 7.5lb.
All caught on cut gills and cut bass! Cut bass out preformed cut gills 3 to 2
Also had one get off on a bass head, felt 7-8lbs.
A good night but no biggies YET (key word Yet! LOL)
-
Nice for the river!
I'm heading out in a little bit to Flathead fish.
Got gills and bass for baits. Going to go by boat and hit some prime locations.
-
Improved Trilene has never ever failed me. Palomars always break at the knot.
When I get snagged up with 60lb. Big Game (Catfishing Rigs) and I'm forced to break off its always at the knot with palomars. Never with Trilene Knots!
I refuse to ever use a palomar again. Seen'm fail too many times.
Just my opinion, use what ya want.
-
-
wooo hoo nice fish Rob!
Thanks! I'll be taken you out sometime soon for Flatheads. right close to memorial day is good and there after till about november.
Just spool your 6500 up with something in the 30-40lb. range on a stout pole and your ready. Lord only knows I got enough hooks for 10 guys! LOL
-
Yep we got nice ones here too. Some in the 60s are caught every year near here.
The Monongahela River has a good population of Flatties as does the near by Ohio River and several lakes and other rivers and large creeks.
I do like this carp fishin but flatheads are my passion.
Heres one from 2005 29lbs. 41" long. Just after the spawn, shoulda weighed 35 or so before the spawn.
-
The Ohio (I think) River near Pittsburgh just recently saw a 40 + lb flathead - caught by a 12 yr old boy using a minnow.
Other reports have been coming in from the "Mon" of several 20 lb and up flatheads being caught near Elizabeth PA.
I am seriously considering rigging my rods up to go after some of these fella's....
DON'T DO IT!!!!! ITS ADDICTIVE! YOU'LL GET HOOKED!!!
Forget them Flatheads, they are hard to catch, many hours between catches, always gotta catch bait, high priced hooks,lines poles and reels. Its just not worth it!!! Once the Flathead Addiction has you in its grasp it won't let go. Caused me to go no less than 50 times last year. I sat thru heat, thru cold, thru driving rain w/thunder and lightning all just to do battle with "Mr. Broadjaws"
No exotic baits to dream up or mix, no fancy rigs to try, but you do need special hooks, BIG OCEAN REELS and Stout poles. 40# Line, No Roll sinkers.
AND BEYOND ANYTHING ELSE PATIENCE!!!!!
I can't help it! It be callin me man it be callin me!
Flatheads aren't for everyone but if you get into it you'll be hooked forever.
-
I can understand that! A BIG OL Flathead or a Wels Cat will try to pull the rod outta your hands!
POWER at its Finest!
-
Sweet! Hay River carp , look whats biting! It's flathead time!
Nice fish justin. Nice color to it.
Yea buddy!
I'll be after them soon.Way to go Stripped!!! First the lil fellers then the big'uns!
Lookin for a 40lber. this year. Flatheads are my passion but I'm begining to really enjoy this Carpin to!
-
Nice fish guys!
Rivercarp, you can also use a laundry mesh bag. Simply wet the bag, tare out the weight from the scale, place fish in, and hook the bag on the top mesh. That's the simplest way.
Don't worry, most of us (me included) were occasionally known to weigh fish that way...
Hey that laundry bags a great idea!!!! I'll have to try that method.
Thanks!!!!
-
Yes Sir we commonly refer to the Monongahela River as "The Mon"
The "Super Secret Never Fail Carp Bait" is nothing more that ordinary unaltered straight from the can "Whole Kernel Sweet Corn" purchased from Giant Eagle Supermarket for .49 cents a can. LOL
On the "Mon" I've never found anything that works so consistantly as corn. We throw out all sorts of baits and it seems the corn is what gets the bites/fish.
-
Nice going,
Ken I agree,
Oh River CARP, next time please hold the fish adn release it gently after the picture, stretching the gil plates leads towards a shortened life !
Well I can do that! I was weighing him and he was on the scale when Driftwood snapped the pic.
How you all weigh them if you don't hook the scale under the gill?
-
Well I met up with Driftwood at the Notorious Star City MUB Plant. We saw no carp we caught no carp I had 1 bite but missed it. After a while we decided fishing there was futile and decided to go hit Lowsville.
After we got there I baited up with my Super Secret Never Fail Carp Bait! It wasn't 5 minutes and I was getting a bite but missed it. But the rascal stole my Super Secret Bait. So I rebaited and put it back in the same spot within a minute WHAM it gets hit, then nothing??? I'm think it stole my bait. So I reel in to check it out but I still had bait but freshened it up and recast right back to the same place.
I bet not one minute goes by and I'm getting a bite but this time I hook it. After a nice fun battle I finally get it close enough to shore that Driftwood gets it netted.
Turns out to be a 9lb. Common.
A hero pic and it was soon off back to the deep to grow bigger.
I rebait and put it out there again. I kept getting bites on my Super Secret Never Fail Baits. But I'm not doing as good as my bait and keep missing them.
All the sudden it hits it and I set the hook, FISH ON!
Driftwood goes for the net but I tell him its a little one no net needed. But as its coming in it flashes "Silvery" and I think its a small Buffalo but no it turns out to be a Rainbow Trout! LOL
Driftwood and myself are kinda stunned! A Rainbow Trout! Well not unheard of but rather rare for the Mon.
I was well pleased with this bait! Well Pleased!
Heres Pic of Carp, Maybe Driftwood has a pic of the trout he can post?
-
It was hot!!!! Bait and haul in a fish, bait and haul in a fish. I bet we missed twice what we caught!
It was even easier than catch bait is.
Don't set your pole down cause you'll just be picking it back up again real quick like. Some Big wipers were jumping to after dark. As near as I can find out theres no Carp in there???? -
We also found that Kahles hooks were KING!!!! Much improved hook up rates over standard J Type Hooks. Never tried any circles but figure they woulda worked too.
It was a BLAST!!!!
-
I went to Mt.Storm Lake with my nefhew Mush and buddy Barry last night.
We were testing his new boat out and doing a little catfishing. Got on the water at 4pm and came off at a little after mid-night.
Never in all my days of catfishing (some 43yrs.) have I ever caught so many catfish.
We caught at least 90 and most probably over 100 catfish. We went thru 10lbs. of chicken livers, a bunch of shrimp, nightcrawlers and even some stink bait.
We lost count of fish but our best and most conservative estimates we could come up with were Mush
The King" over 40, Barry over 20 and me over 30. Thats 90 and I figure thats a low estimate.
I took 4 poles but soon saw it was impossible to use more than 1 at a time. I caught fish till I was tired of catching fish then would take a break for 15 minutes and then get back into them. It was Fast! It was Furious!!!! You casted in and within a minute usually had them biting.
Now these aren't big catfish by any standard. The lake is way way over populated. Water was 71 degrees coming off it at just after midnight. Stays warm due to a Power Plant Discharge.
These were Channel Cats not very big. They ranged in size from 10" long to 18" long. The biggest ones maybe a pound and a half.
We missed a zillion too. If we woulda caught everyone that bit I'm sure we woulda had over 200 for the night!
We discovered out on the water that there wasn't a camera between the 3 of us. LOL
I had heard storys that you could catch these channels there like this but had a hard time believing it, well I believe now 100%.
We caught more catfish in one evening than we usually catch all year. We used ultralights for the task at hand. It was a BLAST!!!!!
-
Cool!!!! Glad you did ok. Thats a nice sized Brown!
-
you do have a point there... but i think he might be 1 of them backwoods hicks talkin like that
He spells like some people talk and the sure ain't "Hillbillys" LMAO Sounds more "Inner City Gansta" to me!
-
-
Now that we have heard from the Spelling Police is Hillbilly going to answer Jamil or just laugh???
My honey hole a bow hunting disaster....
in Pictures, Stories & Video
Posted
I think alot of the problem is the perception of Carp many folks have. Many see Carp as vermin (kinda like rats that swim) so when they kill them they see it as doing the world a favor.
This perception naturally doesn't include most CAG Members, or at least I would assume doesn't.
Until the public perception is changed thru education and enlightenment expect more of the same as in the pics.
While I have no issues with Bowhunters/Bowfishing I do have issues with wanton waste. There are plenty of people who will gladly take Carp to eat. Here in my area theres some Oriental folks who will not only gladly take them but will gladly pay you for them (not sure of the legalitys concerning payment?) But they will gladly give you a $20 Bill for a Carp.
But I refuse to condem all "Bowfishermen" for the acts of some. I also see infighting on such issues as doing more harm than good.
PETA loves this stuff and we play right into there hands by infighting.
Infighting includes that not only of fishermen but of hunters and fishermen.
Theres slobs in every facet of life and there always will be.
If folks wanta shoot Carp with arrows and its legal then fine and dandy. But I think they shouldn't do it if they are just going to trash them after they kill them. But then again at present many see it no differently than going to the dump and shooting rats or the fields and shooting prarie dogs or groundhogs.
Until I joined CAG I saw Carp as vermin, though I did not kill them and still C/R them back into the waters. After joining CAG and reading up on Carp I now see them them as a Great Sport Fish. My own perception has changed thru education and enlightenment I recieved here at CAG.
If we enlighten the Bowfishermen about Carp we stand to gain more converts. If they won't stop (and they won't, law or no law) then maybe try to get the point across to not waste the Carp they kill. If you don't have someone who wants them for food don't do it. Possibly compare them to other game they wouldn't dare waste.
Maybe work with Bowhunting Organizations to educate there ranks that wasteing Carp is no different than wasteing say Deer. Educate them that they are not vermin but a valuable Sport Fish with real food value.
Some Old Dead Guy said something once along these lines: United we stand, divided we fall. Hunters and Fishermen today face many opponents against both and these opponents are not only organized but have huge coffers full of moneys to push there agenda.
Just my opinion.