# Bullheads for catfish bait?



## -WiRtH-

I have heard and read a few times that small bullheads are arguably the best bait for big flatheads. Well for those off you who didn't know this area is ate up with them. Call em butter cats, mud cats, poliwogs, or whatever you want to, I just want to know if anyone has ever tried them. One of the catfish books I have talks about using bullheads 3-6 inches long and says to "Snip off the barbels, spines and dorsal fin causing the fish to bleed and flounder in the water." Well why shouldn't that work? I've done other baitfish similarly with great success in the past.


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## CatCrusher

It will work no doubt, but a bream of any kind works much better. A buddy of mine pulled up a limb line a few weeks ago that had a huge flathead that had swallowed a pretty good sized channel cat. He lost the flathead at the boat when the channel cat came out of his throat. He got it on video and posted on u tube, I need to find the link.


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## CatHunter

When you can get your hands on a dozen or so they are hands down they best bait for trophy flatheads 20lbs and up.

I have tried to find them but they seem to be pretty tricky for me to catch on a regular basis.

But when I do manage a to get a few I get cats like this, this guy was caught on a 5in yellow bullhead "rod n reel, that's all we use"


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## -WiRtH-

Yea I put a bunch of bream and 5-6 small bullheads in a big aquarium at home and I hope to take them out tomorrow night and try them out. I know bream work really well for sure. And if you find that video definitely let me know!


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## CatHunter

Bullheads are very hardy and will live all night on a hook.

Be warned they will hang you up from time to time,don't forget to post your report when u get back


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## skiff89_jr

CatHunter said:


> Bullheads are very hardy and will live all night on a hook.
> 
> That's for sure. Good luck tomorrow night and take some pics :thumbsup:


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## Slip Knot

Beaver ponds are a good location to catch them. The only issue I have with catching them for bait is that any that are over 6" long make it to the dinner table rather than the bait bucket. They are very good table fare.


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## jcoss15

yea they work great if you can get ahold of some. I know yellow river used to be full of buttercats until the big flatheads showed up now its tough to catch them on yellow. They will definately catch big flatheads but then again so will some nice bluegill or stumpknockers.


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## -WiRtH-

Yea I actually have been loading up on them the past few days at a beaver pond. And I know what you mean about keeping the bigger butter cats because I will sure fry some up in a heart beat. And on yellow river, the first slough up from guess lake and in guess lake itself you can catch 20-30 some nights on bush hooks and such.


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## CatHunter

Bullheads are always first to be wiped out by Flathead catfish, Flatheads didn't show up in yellow river until the mid 90s and in less than 5 years have virtually wiped the bulleads out in the main River.

The problem bullheads have is they share the same habitat as the Flatheads, so they make fast snacks for these big predators, add that to the fact these bullheads had no other real predators in the river before the arrival of flatheads and your left with _clubbing baby seals_, they didn't stand a chance.

Ask any one who fished yeller in the early 90s and they will tell you story's of catching 100 bullheads (_pollywogs_)in a night of running lines, now I challenge any one to catch 10 in a weekend of camping.

You cant eliminate these fish with electro shocking the only real way to keep them in check is let them destroy each other, once a large Flathead population is established they will start to eat each others young until you are left with only large Catfish, history repeats its self like this and its happen to every river they have invaded in other states.


*Stages of Flathead introduction*


*Stage#1* First you have a river with pretty much only day time predators, thriving with a healthy ecosystem with lots of sunfish,suckers, and bullheads, all have adapted to avoid the daylight carnivores and freely swim through out the river.

*stage#2* One day some one releases a few Flatheads in to the northern section of the river and the invasion begins, flood waters with flush the adult cats south reproducing the whole way down the pipe. With in less than two years a young Flathead catfish will start reproducing 150,000-300,000 young a year with astonishing growth rate and camouflage ability to hide from predators and hunt which gives them a 90% success rate of making it to reproductive stage.

*stage#3* With in 10 years the Flathead is the dominate fish in the river with catfish in the 50+lb range, the locals never seen it coming and neither did the bullheads and sun fish, most bullheads are gone with in 5 years, sunfish populations are decimated by the 10th year, and the locals see a big problem.

*stage#4* wild life management finally notices there is a problem but now its to late, they start a all out war on the fish spending thousands of dollars if not millions years go by until they finally give up and say"They just keep doubling "

*stage#5* by the 20th year the Flatheads are still in the river and have established a healthy river, now with catfish in the 70+ range and good numbers of 20-30lb catfish, many small fish have learned the Flatheads tricks and nocturnal hunting ability's, adapting to them, bluegills and other sunfish will start to sleep in the shallowest of river beds, bullheads will keep to the creeks and never be seen in the main river again.

*stage#6 *by year 30 Young flatheads and other catfish will become the new food source of these giants, catfish over 80lbs will now hunt in the cover of darkness bullheads and sunfish will be just a small treat, by this time anglers have started to noticed they are there, tournaments will explode millions of dollars in revenue will be made and catfish populations will plum it bringing them down to a low level, with smarter bait fish & fewer fish to feed on & adult Flatheads hunting down their own young, their success rate of making it to adult hood, drastically goes in to free-fall down to less than 10%.

Iv read allot of study's and the end result is always this.. 

*stage#7 *By year 40 the Flathead is recognized as a GameFish to that state and is giving laws protecting the fish from extinction from commercial and over recreational harvest.

Yellow river is in stage #5 as well as Escambia river, the Apalachicola I would say is clearly in stage in stage #6 since the first Flathead was discovered there in 1982


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## -WiRtH-

Eh.. I've filled more than one cooler up with yellow bullheads on Yellow River in the last few years because when nothing else is biting I know I can get them. It may be a lot less than there was years ago, I don't know that for sure, but there are still a good bit, and I do know that for sure..


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## CatHunter

There are a few guys like your self who still know how to find them.


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## jcoss15

-WiRtH- said:


> Eh.. I've filled more than one cooler up with yellow bullheads on Yellow River in the last few years because when nothing else is biting I know I can get them. It may be a lot less than there was years ago, I don't know that for sure, but there are still a good bit, and I do know that for sure..


Are you catching these in the main river or the sloughs off the river in holt? You can still find them in sloughs and creeks like cathunter said...I also can remember when yellow was over run with bullheads and we would catch them like crazy on hooks and rod and reel. If you fish with shiners or bream you will catch flatheads period end of story they just can't resist it!:yes:


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## river_roach

Here is the link to the video that sbarrow was talking about. The one that the big flathead had eaten the 2lb channel cat.


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## -WiRtH-

Well honestly now that I think about it I guess the majority were from the sloughs and only a handful from the river. And 75% of the time I go catfishing I only use liver because in the river that will land me mostly channels, which are, by far, my favorite freshwater fish to eat. The rest of the time I take bream and liver, and occassionally worms but I usually don't do as good with the worms so it's I don't usually worry about em. 

And thanks for the video that is pretty awesome!


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## CatHunter

Flatheads are awesome predators and channel and bluecats are on the menu


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## CatCrusher

Ive been fishing for flatheads all my life and being retired military I have been able to fish for them in alot of different states. That being said the best bait aint what they will bite it's what they will bite the best consistently. (bream).
I grew up fishing the Conecuh and the Alabama and alot of bream have died baiting hooks in my life. We use to catch a small channel cat on one of our lines, take him off, rehook him and send him back down. It works but not as consistent. I love rodnreel fishing for them, but I also love running my lines (trotline and limblines). At the end of the day use what you can get your hands on.


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## -WiRtH-

Running lines and frog gigging is my summer. I only wish we could put bream on them here in florida...


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## CatCrusher

We have an advantage in Alabama with our creel limit also being our bait limit. If there's 2 of you on the boat that gives you 100 bream a day. (all hook and line caught of course)


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## CatHunter

90% of the time I take some sort of sunfish with me with bullheads and other small fish taking up the slack including, small mullet, large minnows, bullminnows, and shad when avalible.


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