# Favorite time for flatheads



## shadpocket (Jan 18, 2010)

Curious to see everybody elses fav- time for flatheads. I know ,,,,If your like me,,, Anytime you can get out is a good time whether you catch fish or not. LOL . My biggest fish were all caught in early to mid summer ,fishing in the rain with a big storm front approaching.( Of course,, I never fish far from the truck at these times ) LOL. 
Fishing storm fronts would be mine. What's yours ?


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## dinkbuster1 (Oct 28, 2005)

for flatheads.....

-favorte time is fall, especially from mid Sept to mid October

-favorite moons are the new moon periods and the night of the last quarter

-clear water, just a tad murky is ok though 

-as far as "fronts/weather", 36-24 hours before a front is scheduled to come through is best for me. the day right after a front from the hours of about 10-am to 4pm or so i am finding can be very good as well. 

-anytime the Barometer is between 29.95-30.15 an rising slowly


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## Catproinnovations (Dec 8, 2009)

pre spawn storm fronts the nastiest stuff that mother nature can throw at ya lol!

Thats when i have caught 90% of my big ones


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## catmanbennie (Jan 15, 2010)

My favorite time to catch shovels is early summer,an the middle of fall.


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## Randy101 (Jan 7, 2010)

Catproinnovations said:


> pre spawn storm fronts the nastiest stuff that mother nature can throw at ya lol!
> 
> Thats when i have caught 90% of my big ones


Pre-spawn is one of my favorites as well as the fall bite when they are fattening up for the winter months.


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## katfish (Apr 7, 2004)

My favorite time is late April through Nov.

I am ready to catch them anytime they are willing to bite

Although there are some reliable times when they feed more heavily like Spring and Fall, I found by looking at pictures that they feed all throughout Summer.

By being patient and fishing a lot, I learned that I have caught flathead on almost every day throughout the season.

Many "experts" will advise you shouldn't bother fishing dog days for flathead.
Here are some fish from July and August. Make your own determination.




























My favorite time to fish for flathead is any time I can. Flathead fishing is rarely easy. The fish eat throughout summer and become more difficult because of dispersion and larger forage bases, but watching for changes like rainstorms or cold fronts that might increase feeding activity will provide opportunitities.

Flathead react differently in different waterways at times. In Fall I go to a lake that the flathead feed longer up to Nov than other lakes.










The more you fish the more you learn.


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## Catproinnovations (Dec 8, 2009)

Randy101 said:


> Pre-spawn is one of my favorites as well as the fall bite when they are fattening up for the winter months.


just curious how long does the pre-spawn last in them pay lakes that yall fish.....

and what kinda structure do you target?????


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## tcba1987 (Jun 22, 2004)

If i had to pick a month ............id say October is my best month for Tusc River flatties !!!


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## catfish_hunter (May 31, 2005)

My "favorite" time to fish for flatheads is any time I can get to the water...The most productive times I have found are: Mid may to mid june...and the end of august to the first or second week of october...I rarely do well from the last week of june to the 2nd week of august, but every water way is different...

Gosh, I cant wait for April to get here! Im ready to get after some flatheads!


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## Fisherman 3234 (Sep 8, 2008)

My favorite Flatty periods as stated is anytime I can get out to catch, photo, and release so I can catch him again next year. My most productive times like a lot of other people's are during (Late April) spring-summer (Last week of June) and (August) late summer-fall (Last week of October) But, as Robby stated, these fish can be caught during the dead heat of summer when the time's are right. Once again, GREAT pics Robby!


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## Randy101 (Jan 7, 2010)

Catproinnovations said:


> just curious how long does the pre-spawn last in them pay lakes that yall fish.....
> 
> and what kinda structure do you target?????


I believe that the spawn starts in late May to early June but this time frame seems to be different at other lakes. Not all the fish spawn at the same time so Fishing can be difficult up to the end of June early July. I also think that the water temps play a factor on when the spawn starts...... although I could be wrong.

It doesn't matter (to me) what time of year it is I always target Rock piles, ledges, stumps, holes and anything else I can find.

What about you guys fishing the rivers ? I always wondered if the spawn time frame was similar ?


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## dinkbuster1 (Oct 28, 2005)

the spawn seems to start about the same time every year on the GMR, from late june thru july. july is pretty much useless, unless you are targeting dinks. 

the past few years i have been questioning the theory that water temps are the major factor in causing flats and all fish to start spawning. other fish such as crappie, bluegills, bass, have been proven to start their spawning on either the full moon or new moon of late may or early june. also suckers have been found to start their spawn runs when just the right amount of daylight is seen as the days get longer in spring.

seeing how the flathead spawns are like clockwork each year i'd say the "daylight" theory would be more plausible.


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