Most flathead anglers know the sit-and-wait routine well, but Opatz says patience actually is detrimental during the day. "When the sun's high in the sky, you know where the fish will be," he says. "They're holed up in the middle of the biggest, nastiest-looking logjams on the river. And when you put a bait in front of them, they'll eat it."

Opatz usually spends about five minutes at each spot, but says that most fish will bite inside of two minutes. "A good spot doesn't have to be deep," he adds, "so long as it's dense enough to offer good overhead cover. I caught a 40-inch flathead and two smaller fish last fall from a spot that was less than four feet deep in the middle of a 2-foot flat. The fish were holding under the root wad of a massive cottonwood tree that blocked as much daylight as current."

Sometimes, though, flatheads will venture away from cover during the day. "My first fish of the season last year came from a creekmouth where we had been catching channel cats," he says. "It was early May, and the water was still in the high 40F or low 50F range. The fish probably was attracted to a concentration of bait or the warmer water, but there also was a massive timber pile a few yards downstream."

Once the water warms above 60F and the flathead season gets into full swing, Opatz gets into a routine. "If I hit the water at first light I usually start fishing about 100 yards above a big snag," he says. "I continue to move progressively closer to the wood as the day wears on. By about 10 a.m., I'm bouncing my sinker off the wood on the cast."

OPIE'S BAIT AND TACKLE

Good bait is just as important with cutbait as with livebait, maybe more so. "I usually catch creek chubs from small tributary streams," Opatz says. "Almost any size will work, but bigger baits seem to attract bigger fish. I remove the head with a diagonal cut behind the gill and then cut off the tail. That leaves me a chunk of meat about four or five inches long."

When chubs are tough to catch, as they were last summer when the water level in local creeks fluctuated from week to week, Opatz buys white suckers from a bait shop. "Suckers catch fish, but not so well as wild minnows," he says. "I know it sounds silly, but I think flatheads know the difference between natural and pond-raised baitfish, even if the bait is dead."

Opatz's rigging depends on conditions. "When the fish are actively feeding it's tough to beat a circle hook," Opatz says. "I prefer a 6/0 Gamakatsu Octopus, which is strong enough to land a 50-pound flathead, but thin enough to quickly penetrate the soft tissue at the corner of the fish's mouth. This hook also has a wide gap that prevents the hook from setting back into the bait."

When the fish are less active, though, Opatz opts for a 10/0 Gamakatsu Octopus hook. "A flathead usually grabs a bait and immediately drops it," he continues. "I think they're trying to kill it. A few seconds later, they pick up the bait again and start to move off. That's when the line tightens and a circle hook will turn into the corner of the fish's jaw. If a fish spits the bait at this point, I usually change to an Octopus hook and use a freespool bait clicker."

Leader length, meanwhile, depends on current speed. "I prefer to use a long leader in slack water," Opatz says. "I think the added movement attracts fish from a greater distance. But in heavy current, more movement usually results in more snags. I go with an 18-inch leader in faster flows and a 36-inch leader in calmer water."