# Ohio Flatheads



## Karl Wolf (Apr 26, 2020)

If you were to choose one place in Ohio (excluding the Ohio river) for a 40lb + flathead,where would it be and what would you use for bait/rigs? Heard to go bottom,heard to use the big slip floats. You catch as many during the day as night?Ive only got a couple small ones but would be interested in taking a 2-3 day trip next time home in September to target our top whiskered predator in Ohio. 
I targeted them once at Peidmont and only got a dink and my current female "fishing partner" at the time hooked up with what i believe was a big flat but pulled her in a snag.
Ive heard things about Charles mill,Mosquito, Piedmont, clendening and so forth but not sure exactly where the best lake is for them. Truly my experience and knowledge about them is rather limited.

Appreciate the conversation and good feedback. Also, im not gonna eat the catfish at your favorite lake,I'd rather chew on an old tire than eat a catfish over 3 lbs.

Thanks


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## Maplehick (Jan 18, 2019)

Mosquito would be my choice for big flat heads. If the ohio is out. Live bluegill for bait or large shad cut in half.

Sent from my SM-A205U using Tapatalk


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## Karl Wolf (Apr 26, 2020)

Maplehick said:


> Mosquito would be my choice for big flat heads. If the ohio is out. Live bluegill for bait or large shad cut in half.
> 
> Sent from my SM-A205U using Tapatalk


They do eat fresh cut bait?


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## Maplehick (Jan 18, 2019)

I have caught a couple on fresh shad. But my choice is live gills, suckers,any thing alive. 

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## wattsup48 (May 26, 2017)

Karl Wolf said:


> If you were to choose one place in Ohio (excluding the Ohio river) for a 40lb + flathead,where would it be and what would you use for bait/rigs? Heard to go bottom,heard to use the big slip floats. You catch as many during the day as night?Ive only got a couple small ones but would be interested in taking a 2-3 day trip next time home in September to target our top whiskered predator in Ohio.
> I targeted them once at Peidmont and only got a dink and my current female "fishing partner" at the time hooked up with what i believe was a big flat but pulled her in a snag.
> Ive heard things about Charles mill,Mosquito, Piedmont, clendening and so forth but not sure exactly where the best lake is for them. Truly my experience and knowledge about them is rather limited.
> 
> ...


Seneca lake has some giants. Haven't targeted them there, but we've bumped into huge flatheads trolling for saugeye. And I've seen numerous pictures of big fish come out of there. My big one a couple years ago went at 50inches


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## Karl Wolf (Apr 26, 2020)

Joseph Watts said:


> Seneca lake has some giants. Haven't targeted them there, but we've bumped into huge flatheads trolling for saugeye. And I've seen numerous pictures of big fish come out of there. My big one a couple years ago went at 50inches


Does Seneca still stock pure strain stripers for the egg harvesting?


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## wattsup48 (May 26, 2017)

Karl Wolf said:


> Does Seneca still stock pure strain stripers for the egg harvesting?


I'm pretty sure they stopped stocking them in the 80s.


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## Karl Wolf (Apr 26, 2020)

Joseph Watts said:


> I'm pretty sure they stopped stocking them in the 80s.


I thought that was only lake they still stocked to harvest eggs for making wipers?


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## Flathead76 (May 2, 2010)

Try skeeter with green sunfish or warmouths.


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## slabseeker (Mar 7, 2012)

Have a buddy that strictly fishes for shovelheads on The Great Miami south of Dayton and north of Cincy areas. He has several locations he fishes between both cities. All live bait is his choice to be successful and very successful he is. His favorite baits are bluegill, bullheads and small white bass. Swears white bass are the best when he can get some to fish with.


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## FlyFishRich (Feb 3, 2016)

Charles Mill is more of a channel cat lake than a flathead lake in my opinion. I used to fish that lake Alot when I lived in Ashland and never caught a flathead but many nice size channels. There are a few flatheads in the lake as my
caught 2 last year on big goldfishes but I wouldn't make the drive if you think you're gonna get a flathead every time you go there. Just my opinion......Rich


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## Karl Wolf (Apr 26, 2020)

Thanks for the feedback folks. Im not the biggest fan of Mosquito due to lack of scenery, unlimited horsepower and so forth but seems like ima have to work that north end channel drifting some free lined live bait behind me.


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## fontinalis (Mar 29, 2011)

It was probably a fluke, but I caught a pretty big one 2 weeks ago at the north end of mosquito drifting for crappie.


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## Karl Wolf (Apr 26, 2020)

fontinalis said:


> It was probably a fluke, but I caught a pretty big one 2 weeks ago at the north end of mosquito drifting for crappie.


Most of my big fish are flukes,lol


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## MagicMarker (Mar 19, 2017)

Another choice would be independence dam on the maumee River


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## slimdaddy45 (Aug 27, 2007)

Muskingum river is my choice for big flats I got a 65# out of it so far my pb bait is green sunfish and bluegills and bullheads


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## youngunner (Jun 21, 2009)

I second slimdaddy, 95% of all the flatheads I have ever caught came out of the muskingum river watershed


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## H2O Mellon (Apr 5, 2004)

On the bank of the Scioto River with fresh caught shad (always seemed to out produce the best live bait you'd imagine when Flathunter and I were fishing it). Boy, those were the days and some CLASSIC ALL TIME BEST OGF posts.


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## Muddy (May 7, 2017)

What happened to Flathunter? I always enjoyed reading about your adventures together.


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## H2O Mellon (Apr 5, 2004)

I don't think Jack fishes alot anymore. He's around- try reaching him on Facebook. We had some great times together. My current health issues wouldn't allow me to fish like we used to but boy, just one more right on "The Goat Path" is on my bucket list. Fun, fun, fun times. Never would I believe cut shad (fresh, fresh, fresh) cut shad would outfish live suckers, shad, bluegills, goldfish, etc but those flatheads on the Scioto love their fresh cut shad.


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## MRJ (May 9, 2014)

We got two of them last weekend at Atwood on bluegill. 18 and 27 lbs.


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## Karl Wolf (Apr 26, 2020)

Some great info on this post fellas.


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## Outdoorshillbilly365 (Apr 21, 2020)

Last year i had good success catching big flat heads on the Cuyahoga river but with the dam being taken down haven't tried it yet this year. Does anyone know where a good place in ohio would be to try for blue cats?


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## allwayzfishin (Apr 30, 2008)

Outdoorshillbilly365 said:


> Last year i had good success catching big flat heads on the Cuyahoga river but with the dam being taken down haven't tried it yet this year. Does anyone know where a good place in ohio would be to try for blue cats?


Hoover res in Westerville has a great fishery for blues. It’s my favorite catfish destination when I visit my brother. Average size is 6-10bers. Lots of 20s in that lake.


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## slimdaddy45 (Aug 27, 2007)

The Hocking river has some good flatheads also best at Athens and below 56.5 is my best from the Hocking plus many 20 & 30's for a small river it has some good fish in it


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## MRJ (May 9, 2014)

I have a question on eating flatheads. I see many say don`t eat the big ones. Only eat the ones under 10 lbs. Also, do you soak the meat before eating? Some say salt water. I also heard buttermilk. Some don`t soak at all. I`ve never eaten flatheads but I`m ready to try my next one.


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

H2O Mellon said:


> On the bank of the Scioto River with fresh caught shad (always seemed to out produce the best live bait you'd imagine when Flathunter and I were fishing it). Boy, those were the days and some CLASSIC ALL TIME BEST OGF posts.


You guys certainly did use to kill them! Those old threads are missed!


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## youngunner (Jun 21, 2009)

I caught my first ever blue this weekend out of hoover. Right at 10lbs, lost what I believe was a much larger blue cat right at the boat. We were trolling for saugeye and could not keep the crappie and cats off


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## winguy7 (Mar 12, 2014)

I leave the big ones to breed. If they where a stocked fish it may be different. But with any fish I plan on eating they go straight into the cooler. I think keeping them alive on a stringer on hot days is what turns the meat bad.


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## Southernsaug (May 23, 2019)

MRJ said:


> I have a question on eating flatheads. I see many say don`t eat the big ones. Only eat the ones under 10 lbs. Also, do you soak the meat before eating? Some say salt water. I also heard buttermilk. Some don`t soak at all. I`ve never eaten flatheads but I`m ready to try my next one.


I have eaten a bunch of them over 50 years of fishing for them. I actually do it opposite, I clean 1 or 2 big ones a year and throw everything else back. A flathead must be at least 15 pounds for me to clean it. Smaller is too little meat and more waste. I prefer flatheads over 20. Why kill several when you can get all the freezer meat you want from 1 or 2. The smaller younger fish are your future production anyway. Older fish don't usually have as viable eggs, but more of them. Last year my buddy and I cleaned two around 15-16 lbs each, because we had plenty of Saugeye in the freezer, and released over 40 from small to 20 plus pounds. We would have had to kill at least 2-4 times what we did, of the small ones, for the same amount of meat. We never got any really big ones for some reason. When it comes to spawning, numbers trump size. 

They are delicious and my second favorite fish after Saugeye. I cut all the red meat off and then steak them into 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick steaks/fillets. I soak them if the meat is bloodshot. Best to hang them and ring the tail and bleed out. You can kill one humanely by finding the sinus hole between the eyes and inserting a wire or broom straw. Just feel with the point of a knife until you find the void under the skin then make a slit. They are a firm white and mild meat....yummy


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## winguy7 (Mar 12, 2014)

By smaller I meant in the 10-20lb range. I'm never trying to load the freezer with them either. Just a couple a year. Whatever is legal is fine with me though. Just personally I'm not taking anything bigger than 20lbs. My thought is the the juveniles may never make it too maturity. The larger ones have the better genes and should be left to breed. Again that's just me, and I'm not going to complain if someone takes the legal limit.


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## Outdoorshillbilly365 (Apr 21, 2020)

allwayzfishin said:


> Hoover res in Westerville has a great fishery for blues. It’s my favorite catfish destination when I visit my brother. Average size is 6-10bers. Lots of 20s in that lake.


Thanks. Are there good spots to fish from shore?


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## slimdaddy45 (Aug 27, 2007)

I did eat a 56# flat once I soaked in salt water for 2-3 days all the oil soaks oiut leave a scheen on the water cut the red meat off cut all the yellow off top of its back leave nice white meat I was good .I haven't ate fish for years now got sick from some bad channelcats and aint touched lit since


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## Jim white (Feb 19, 2018)

MRJ said:


> I have a question on eating flatheads. I see many say don`t eat the big ones. Only eat the ones under 10 lbs. Also, do you soak the meat before eating? Some say salt water. I also heard buttermilk. Some don`t soak at all. I`ve never eaten flatheads but I`m ready to try my next one.


Just eat the white meat not the red or the yellow


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## CHKmate (Jun 18, 2016)

youngunner said:


> I caught my first ever blue this weekend out of hoover. Right at 10lbs, lost what I believe was a much larger blue cat right at the boat. We were trolling for saugeye and could not keep the crappie and cats off


That's a beautiful blue cat.


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## zipty24x (Jun 17, 2020)

Karl Wolf said:


> If you were to choose one place in Ohio (excluding the Ohio river) for a 40lb + flathead,where would it be and what would you use for bait/rigs? Heard to go bottom,heard to use the big slip floats. You catch as many during the day as night?Ive only got a couple small ones but would be interested in taking a 2-3 day trip next time home in September to target our top whiskered predator in Ohio.
> I targeted them once at Peidmont and only got a dink and my current female "fishing partner" at the time hooked up with what i believe was a big flat but pulled her in a snag.
> Ive heard things about Charles mill,Mosquito, Piedmont, clendening and so forth but not sure exactly where the best lake is for them. Truly my experience and knowledge about them is rather limited.
> 
> ...


The licking river in southeast Ohio below Dillon spillway produces nice numbers of large flatheads. I have caught a 46 pounder and multiple 30s out of there.


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## Fisherman1386 (Aug 14, 2018)

Outdoorshillbilly365 said:


> Last year i had good success catching big flat heads on the Cuyahoga river but with the dam being taken down haven't tried it yet this year. Does anyone know where a good place in ohio would be to try for blue cats?


Where the hell are you catching flatheads on the Cuyahoga...fished this river and area for years and have never seen one


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## allwayzfishin (Apr 30, 2008)

Got a couple good ones already tonight.


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## night vision (Apr 26, 2016)

Nice flatheads did you catch'em at Lake Wikipedia?


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## Beepum19 (Apr 9, 2016)

Where’s lake Wikipedia?


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## allwayzfishin (Apr 30, 2008)

Lake encyclopedia


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## Macky (Mar 1, 2013)

Outdoorshillbilly365 said:


> Last year i had good success catching big flat heads on the Cuyahoga river but with the dam being taken down haven't tried it yet this year. Does anyone know where a good place in ohio would be to try for blue cats?


Got a decent one this year from the hoga.


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## Evinrude58 (Apr 13, 2011)

You could try Nimi as there are a few in there. I wouldn't count on it but they are there. Have caught a few there over the years with the largest 17 pounds. Was told Eddie and his buddies put them in years ago. Seen bigger cats swim under my boat but couldn't tell if flats or really large channels.


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## Karl Wolf (Apr 26, 2020)

Nice to see them in the Hoga. Maybe they will move upstream with the dam removed now? I wonder what a flathead can actually "swim through" to make it upstream. 

And Flats in nimi? If they started reproducing they would get HUGE in that lake!


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## tkbiker (Jul 30, 2004)

IMO I believe the next Ohio record Flathead will again come out of one of the MWCD lakes. 
Currently its out of Clendening but i think that will change. 
Fish the MWCD lakes for Channels and Flathead they are loaded with them. And If your at Seneca check out the fish hatchery down there.


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## Macky (Mar 1, 2013)

Hoga is a good river for Channel Cats, be interesting to see how removing the Dams will affect the fishing.


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## bdawg (Apr 14, 2009)

Karl Wolf said:


> Nice to see them in the Hoga. Maybe they will move upstream with the dam removed now? I wonder what a flathead can actually "swim through" to make it upstream.
> 
> And Flats in nimi? If they started reproducing they would get HUGE in that lake!


I would be nice to hook into one in the Hoga! I'm sure they could make it all the way upstream to Akron now that the dam has been removed. From what I've heard though, the population in the Cleveland area is not that big, so we won't get many in Akron. 

I've only ever caught 1 flatty. That was a 6-7 pounder out of Little Beaver Creek that flows into the Ohio River. I was fishing for smallmouth with 4lb test and an ultralite rod when it hit. It had me walking into the water and loosening the drag right away! I didn't even know it was a flatty until I caught some channel cats later in the day. That stream is smaller and shallower than the Hoga, but still had cats and sauger in the pools sometimes.


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## Karl Wolf (Apr 26, 2020)

bdawg said:


> I would be nice to hook into one in the Hoga! I'm sure they could make it all the way upstream to Akron now that the dam has been removed. From what I've heard though, the population in the Cleveland area is not that big, so we won't get many in Akron.
> 
> I've only ever caught 1 flatty. That was a 6-7 pounder out of Little Beaver Creek that flows into the Ohio River. I was fishing for smallmouth with 4lb test and an ultralite rod when it hit. It had me walking into the water and loosening the drag right away! I didn't even know it was a flatty until I caught some channel cats later in the day. That stream is smaller and shallower than the Hoga, but still had cats and sauger in the pools sometimes.


I dont believe they would not make it over the 303 dam in peninsula. Never seen a catfish jump


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## Macky (Mar 1, 2013)

Been fishing the Hoga in the CVNP area for Catfish fairly regularly for over 25years, it wasn't until about 5 years ago seen my first Flathead.


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## winguy7 (Mar 12, 2014)

Believe it or not they do. I've had Noddles out for channels and watched them come two feet out of the water with the bluegill. I had to see it to believe it. I've also had a gaint flathead hit topwater, that was a sight I won't forget.


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## Karl Wolf (Apr 26, 2020)

I'm 


winguy7 said:


> Believe it or not they do. I've had Noddles out for channels and watched them come two feet out of the water with the bluegill. I had to see it to believe it. I've also had a gaint flathead hit topwater, that was a sight I won't forget.


I gotcha there. I'm talking about jumping the 3ft high dam


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