Softer Side

During fall, catfish drift downriver to wintering holes. Holes in middle and lower river sections more likely hold cats, but the quality of the hole matters. If it’s one of the deepest holes in a section of river, it likely harbors some cats—and probably many—during fall. But, flatheads apparently don’t always use the deepest holes, sometimes moving into only moderately deep holes with rock or woodcover.

Selecting the best hole within a long river stretch still requires comparative judgments. If you’re going to spend an entire night at a spot, you can rule out smaller and shallower holes, even though they may contain good cover. But what to do when you identify two or more prime flathead holes that are several miles apart? On a bigger river, you might fish both holes during a single night, but navigating smaller streams after dark can be difficult and dangerous. Wiser to choose the best hole and set up there for the night.

If one of these holes is located in an otherwise desolate stretch of river, it might just contain many flatheads and certainly some of the biggest fish. But a prime hole located in a prime stretch of river usually attracts more flatheads. These stretches are more diverse, support a larger forage base and, in turn, hold more catfish. However, if fishing pressure in this hole is high, it’s probably best to fish the more remote hole.

Primary Presentations

Once you decide on a hole, you should set up an hour or two before dark. Flatheads prefer to feed under the cover of darkness during most of the warmwater season, but there are exceptions. When fish first begin to emerge from their wintering holes, for example, they often take smaller meals during daylight hours. And when their activity level peaks during the height of the Prespawn, they can be caught during the middle of the afternoon on pieces of cutbait intended for channel cats. The hour or two before dusk is prime again during early fall.

Most holes can be fished effectively from a boat anchored near the head of the hole, but you can fish from shore if water levels permit. We typically set up camp on the inside bend, usually the low-bank side of the river on a bend hole. The most obvious feeding stations are the head, and the leading edge of a snag at a cutbank on the opposite shore. The core or center of the hole, the shallow flat on its inside perimeter, and shoreline eddies behind the snag or other current breaks also can be productive, depending on water level.

Slackwater tends to be the home of flatheads that are in a neutral or negative feeding mood, while active cats work closer to the main current, though during high water flatheads don’t hold in the faster flows. Heavy current pushes them into eddies formed behind shoreline obstructions, where they can feed more efficiently. During low water, on the other hand, active fish more often position in the deeper water near the core of the depression.

The biggest problem associated with fast water is that it makes presentations more difficult. A rig cast across fast water at the head of a hole to an eddy on the opposite shore may anchor there for a short time, but eventually, current pushing on the line moves the rig out of the eddy into heavier flows. Fishing at closer range from a boat or from the high bank on the outside bend is necessary for a precise presentation.

Release rigs allow you to fish key spots more precisely and to fish more spots at one time. A downrigger or planer-board release clip tied to a limb extending out over the eddy is the simplest option. You can use a boat to deploy the rigs, dropping them vertically into the spot we intend to fish. The line above the rig is attached to the release clip, which holds the rig in place until a fish begins to move off with the bait. Then put the reel in freespool, moving the boat to the anchor location or to a position on the opposite shore.

The terminal rig usually is a standard slipsinker setup. Slide a 2- or 3-ounce bass-casting sinker on your mainline, followed by a bead and a barrel swivel. Tie a short length of leader material to the other rung of the swivel, then add your hook. A 12-inch leader is about right for most conditions. Longer leaders allow the bait too much movement, especially when positioned near heavy cover. A shorter leader or even none at all—letting the sinker slide right up to the bead—is a good choice near snags or in faster current. This keeps the bait on a short leash and forces it to struggle away from the weight of the sinker.