# Flathead Fishing Help



## fishing247 (May 12, 2007)

I need some suggestions on keeping my live bait from swimming into my line above the bobber and straw and causing a huge mess.

i use the straw and bobber technique with the bead and swivel with a 1 ounce weight above the swivel.

i usually fish about 3ft deep.

what can i do to keep this from happening?

is there a line that floats?

thanks for the help!


----------



## ducky152000 (Jul 20, 2005)

use braid as your main line. it will float. i like to use 80lb florocarbon as my leader.


----------



## fishing247 (May 12, 2007)

Thanks Ducky. Did well last night (13 shovels, 1 blue and 1 channel) and only had a few tangles since we were fishing with the wind. I have some small braid and it was tough to get through the straw and bobber. Maybe I should use a higher test pound.


----------



## nixmkt (Mar 4, 2008)

fishing247 said:


> ... I have some small braid and it was tough to get through the straw and bobber. Maybe I should use a higher test pound.


Probably a good idea. Don't really need it for strength but 50 lb. (12 lb. diam.) handles good. Another problem with smaller braid is it can dig into what's already spooled on the reel as you're fighting a larger fish and you'll have trouble making your next cast.


----------



## fishing247 (May 12, 2007)

Thanks guys. Is there a certain brand of braid that you like? I've used power pro for striper fishing and really liked it.


----------



## Nightcrawler666 (Apr 17, 2014)

Power pro and suffix are at the top of my list. I have power pro on my cat fishing setup now, suffix on my bass rods. I like them both for those setups, respectively.


----------



## katfish (Apr 7, 2004)

Just a thought: maybe bend light wire to make a tool to thread line through straw. Little bend on end like a crochet hook.
Y'all sure 80 and 100 pound test will hold your flathead? 
Catchabiggun,
Robby


----------



## winguy7 (Mar 12, 2014)

Not really. Just had one snap 50lb flouro like it was nothing. My fault though had 30lb drag cinched down.


----------



## Chillydigits (Jun 11, 2013)

How did 50lb line fail with 30lbs of drag? Isn't it more likely a knot failure?


----------



## Cajunsaugeye (Apr 9, 2013)

winguy7 said:


> Not really. Just had one snap 50lb flouro like it was nothing. My fault though had 30lb drag cinched down.


Might need to work on knot tying skills and fish fighting skills.50# will easily pull in any freshwater fish in America.On a side note,#50 flouro has to handle about like rope! Doubt you can even cinch a knot tight! Personally,a #65 braid for main line and #20-25 mono leader is my preference.Flouro sinks and you'll get FAR more snags as line settles to the bottom.JMO.


----------



## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

Cajunsaugeye said:


> .50# will easily pull in any freshwater fish in America.


Absolutely correct! I'd guess either knot failure or abrasion to the line. But it wasn't from a fish pulling more than 50 lbs of force. That won't happen in Ohio, or anywhere close for that matter. There aren't many fish in the world that can't be landed with 50 lb line.


----------



## winguy7 (Mar 12, 2014)

No, it wasn't a knot failure. The leader broke about 2/3 of the way up. My set up is 60lb braid main line with a palomar knot to a 300-400lb crane swivel. Then a Uni-knot for the fluoro to a snelled hook. It broke because, like I said I had thirty pounds of drag cinched down and the leader wasnt 100%(that I didn't mention). It wasnt abraded however, but had a slight kink in it. I should of tied a new one, so yeah that was my bad. Still though I use this leader and have used it many many many times before under the same circumstance. Just not with my drag cinched down. Its widely agreed that you should not set your drag more than 30% of your line strength. So, for 50lb leader at thirty pounds of drag I was 50%. That coupled with what was more of a kink than I had thought did me in. A good way to check drag in a pinch(at least on higher drag reels) is to cinch it down, then back it off until you can pull it by hand REALITIVLY easily. That way you know the fish will be able to pull it. Also, one difference I've noticed using fluoro vs braid is that braid snags much more. If you're using a Carolina rig and a big live bluegill you're braid is still going to be on the bottom or close to it when you reel it in. Because braid is 10000% more limp than fluoro it wraps around bottom structure. Whereas fluoro is stiff and usually pulls right over top of it. Really if you've never tried fluoro leaders you should. 50lb fluoro is NOT hard to cinch down at all. You just gotta be a man about it! And im sorry to tell ya that there ARE fish in the Ohio river that can break properly set up 50lb line. Let alone the world. I mean come on alligator gar, sturgeon, lake trout, and flatheads. That's just north American freshwater fish that can easily break 50lb line! But like I said, drag to tight......a little laziness that I didn't mention before.....and one big big flathead=broke line.


----------



## winguy7 (Mar 12, 2014)

So there you have it. You might want to work on you're fact finding skills before you comment about a line you don't even use! Although, I might need to start using 500lb line to pull in the huge B.S.'n fish swimming round here.


----------



## Cajunsaugeye (Apr 9, 2013)

"So there you have it". You might wanna work on your fact POSTING skills before YOU make a thread.You never said anything about using braid and/or having fluoro as the leader.But anyways,If you understand fish fighting,physics,drag,etc.,my statement is still true.Also,mono(as a leader) is more abrasion resistant and will stretch a little,giving you a little " shock absorber" so to speak.Lastly,I reeled in a 37# flathead on 6lb line w/an ultralight while crappie fishing a few yrs ago.Math says #50 fluoro should get a #300 fish in,if drag and proper fighting is used.Although that number actually can even be higher.


----------



## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

Another fact is most reels even with the drags cranked all the way down do not offer more then about 30 lbs of drag resistance and that is an incredible amount of power. Just try to break 30 lb test with your hands. Lol. Several have offered some good solutions to your original problem. Keeping an open mind and trying off the wall stuff is always worth the effort. Good luck
Salmonid


----------



## Chillydigits (Jun 11, 2013)

What is the advantage of having the drag on your Penn Fathom cinched all the way down?


----------



## winguy7 (Mar 12, 2014)

Chillydigits said:


> What is the advantage of having the drag on your Penn Fathom cinched all the way down?


You would be using all of its drag pressure, but you would need to have 80-100lb line. If you want to stay within the recommended 20-30%.


----------



## winguy7 (Mar 12, 2014)

Cajunsaugeye said:


> "So there you have it". You might wanna work on your fact POSTING skills before YOU make a thread.You never said anything about using braid and/or having fluoro as the leader.But anyways,If you understand fish fighting,physics,drag,etc.,my statement is still true.Also,mono(as a leader) is more abrasion resistant and will stretch a little,giving you a little " shock absorber" so to speak.Lastly,I reeled in a 37# flathead on 6lb line w/an ultralight while crappie fishing a few yrs ago.Math says #50 fluoro should get a #300 fish in,if drag and proper fighting is used. Although that number actually can even be higher.


Sorry but I didn't start a thread. I replied to one, with what was meant to be a two sentence joke. LOL. I didn't expect some huffy puffy know it all to jump in and speculate about a situation he/she wasn't even present for. And you're post was full of inaccuracy's......so no, really not correct. Besides what's the biggest fish you ever had on? Because how things should work, doesn't always translate into how they actually work.


----------



## KaGee (Sep 8, 2006)

Take your convo to PM Cajun and Wing


----------



## ducky152000 (Jul 20, 2005)

The only reason i use a high pound test braid is to help with the abraison issue. as far as the 80lb leader goes i like it due to the stiffness to keep my bait from getting tangled in my main line when using floats. it has nothing to do with worry of a fish having the strength to break line. this set up is the best set up i have found for float fishing. if some of you think its over kill,so be it. it works for that style of fishing well. i only have a cpl rigs set up this way for float fishing. my other rigs are 40lb big game or dacron.


----------

