I am going to be fishing down in Marble Falls here in a few weeks. I am gong to set up a trotline while I am there. I did this last year with a store bought trotline and had some luck. I put a small perch on one hook, when I returned the next day that hook was straightened out like a push pin. I�m thinking it had to be a pretty big kitty to do that. I think this time I am going to make a trot line with better hooks. I bought some nylon cord, barrel swivels, some circle hooks and some khale hooks. What would be good bait? How do you hook bait on circle and khale hooks? Last year I used shrimp, minnows and chicken livers. I caught maybe 10 that were good frying size. I know flat heads are around because I caught a small one, maybe 3 pounds. I run this from my kayak.

Thanks for any advise.

~gober

Also what are range cubes?

cattle feed ... get the high protein (at least 20%) ... some say any lower than that & it will float

walk in any feed store or place that sells critter feed and ask for range cubes

I wouldn't used Kahle hooks on a trotline, but that's my choice. I use Eagle Claw 90SS Stainless Steel 3/0-6/0 for almost all of my trotline or jugline fishing. Those hooks are offset and you will not get "straightened" hooks from large fish with them unless they have something to use leverage against (tree, log, limb, etc.) Using circle hooks will prevent the loss of fish and also the straightening of them as well. Make sure you DO NOT get the offset circle hooks or the thinner ones they sell. Putting bait on a circle hook, make sure you do not imbede the hook point in the bait, but make sure it IS exposed for a good hook set. On hooking live bait, make sure you do not hit the backbone, otherwise you'll end up killing it. But hook it directly underneath the dorsal fin or right where the dorsal fin ends and flesh starts.

Range cubes are a protein/feed supplement that the majority of cattlemen use to feed with. Range cubes have various feed grains and products in them, compressed into a cylintrical cube that is used for chumming/baiting a spot for catfishing and attracting them to a particular area.
Range cubes sprinkled along your trotline will definitely attract channels and blues to your line and possibly bring in a flathead for the bait fish around the cubes. Do not throw more than a handful or two right before dusky dark so the sunfish or the dinks(small catfish) don't end up eathing them up.

On hooks, you'll catch more fish with smaller hooks, than with large hooks and large bait. Your larger fish will be held better using large hooks and bigger baits, but you might get one or not, whereas using smaller hooks, you could do well in box-size fish.

Good Luck,
Chris

Great input Chris.
It sounds like our friend is rather new to this so I would recommend staying with smaller hooks like 5/0 and just make sure that the line isn't gonna snag brush around it.
I target flatheads myself so I would use as many perch as I could get. Really any size perch that you can catch on a small perch hook will work. If you can get your hands on some carp or buffalo fish then use it for cut bait. The oily meat will rake up the blues and channels. They also act inadvertantly as BIG flathead bait. I have caught my largest flatheads on super small perch baited and left to fish.

Good luck...the cats from that lake have to be some good eating!

Thanks so mush for all the info. We have a bunch of kids going so perch should be easy to come by. The trick is convincing them that I am simply moving the perch to a "better location" on the lake. I was thinking about using smaller and larger hooks, some for the big and the small. Last year when I ran my store bought line it got hook up in some brush. I was only tying one end off and sinking the other. Well pulling the [censored] out of the line, I almost submerged my kayak then the line broke. I had to paddle back across the lake, get my pole and treble hook to snag the line. I got it and the fish that were on it!

Are the range cubes in huge bags? I don�t really need to buy 50# of them.

How big of a fish does it take to straighten a hook like that?

~gober

A SS 4/0 Eagle Claw will handle a pretty good yellow cat. We have used bigger than 4/0, but seemed to catch less fish when we went to the bigger hook. Live perch near the holes on a rock ledge are sweet. The swivels are good thinking, but may not add that much advantage. We usually just tie the staging directly to the mainline with a keeper knot or something to keep it from sliding. Grandad had caught several in the 60-65 range on this type of set. Giggin Jiggin, any input on this? Good Luck.

most feed comes in 50# bags & i'm afraid it's the same for range cubes ... but they keep well & if you do much fishin' you will use 50# up before ya know it & it's only around 7 bux or so

as for kids catchin' perch, when we usta go to my wifes step-dads family reunion, there would a buncha kids fishin' for perch or what ever was bitin' ... i would buy a few boxes of worms & take with me & hand the worms over to the kinds & tell'im i would give 10 cents for every perch they caught for me ... i bought the bait, the kids had a blast & got some coke money, i got more perch than i knew what to do with

If not adding swivels (good ones and not the snap swivels either) will keep most all your channels and blues that are caught on a line since they spin and twist once caught. You'll know when you lose a channel or a blue when not using swivels, your stagging will be twisted all the way up in a little ball to the main line! All that a flathead wants to do, is head to the bottom and pull straight down.

Another great flathead/yellow cat bait, and the ONLY one I would use if I can get them, is a bullhead/mudcat 6-10" when I can catch a bunch. If my property was closer than an hour from Toledo Bend, my pond is FULL of them in all sizes and I definitely know some flathead "hot spots" that I focus on when I go there for a few days.

Scooter - bud, when are we going to get together on the Brazos or Navasota, heck even the Trinity?

I agree with somethings mentioned above and alot I dont but that is here nor there. I use Mustad saltwater 9-10/0 hooks. I bait them with bream or large shiners or larger goldfish. I target Flatheads only. If targeting flatheads you need live or very fresh dead bait. Cut bait on the norm will not cut it. I catch flatheads from 20-over 100lbs and use swivels on my lines and never having one break. I have had 9 and 10/0 hooks straightened before but no swivel breakage. And I catch more fish in the 50+ pound range then I do below. But I make my own lines and use spro swivels. But I have not always made my own and use to use the black 50 hook lines you saw everywhere. The only problem I had with those were the big aps would rip the blue beads and end up with 4 or 5 hooks in them from sliding up and down the line.

If fishing for blues and channels. Cut bait /shad/ prepared baits are your best option. For bigger blues use live bream or large cutbait.

I hear you Danny on all of it but it doesn't sound like our friend here has reached your (and mine) experience/dedication level. Me and my friends target Ops/yellacats/flatheads too and everything else is just bycatch.
I am suprised to see somone like yourself using Mustad hooks. I guess it's what you are taught to use. Eagle claw 8/0,9/0 and now 10/0 are what we use. Any of them can be staightened by a big boy if they can get the line near a snag. I have had the same experience with the black floating lines as well. Although your line gets messed up pretty bad I couldn't help but think that 3 hooks in a monster fish was better than on straight hook with no fish (JMO).
I am not lake fishing this year. It's just my choice.
I need a break from it so it will be more fun in a few years. Insteadi plan to fish the rivers around me as much as possible!!

Chris, I never know what I've got going on. I plan to hit the Brazos in 2 weeks since we got this rain. I need to get my friend Ray up this way as well. He needs to come try something different.
I really don't think you'd like running with my crew. We are pretty rowdy and may not do things as safe as we should. But you may be able to help us with that part...who knows.

Good luck guys.
I wish I was going this weekend. i already have 75 baits caught.Just got to wait it out!!!

Scooter the reason I use the Saltwater mustads is because Lewisville and a few other lakes I fish seem to rust up the eagle claw hooks too fast and I end up having to change hooks too often. I like the mustad saltwater because they stay sharper longer and the points dont break off on the first fish caught on them nor do they rust no where near as fast as the eagle claw. Eagle claw hooks are sharper but I dont mind sharpening the mustads.

Danny,
are you talking about eagle claw 90SS hooks? They are stainless and hold up really well for me in the lakes and rivers I fish. Even left for a long time they stay pretty sharp. Now the tinned steel hooks are a different story but I rarely use them.

I have been gearing up this week (more like 2 weeks) to hit the Brazos river outside Navasota. I have 35 setlines primed/sharpened and ready to rip lips!!!
I went to the deer lease today and got my camper. The forcasted rain has went away (so far) and I am super excited. I've got 100 mudcats and 100 perch and am ready to go after Moby himself!!!

Thanks everyone for your comments. I am going out next weekend to put your tips to use. I'll let you know how it goes.

~gober

Thanks for all the tips everyone. I didnt catch a ton of fish but the ones I caught were quality. I ended up with 1 @ 5 pounds and 4 over 3 pounds. All this was done in my 13 foot kayak. I dont think I could have dealt with a really large cat. I have a small basket and the 5 pounder was a pain to get its head in.
In my nonscientific testing. Circles hooks won out. Almost all fish were landed on circle hooks. Khale hooks 0 fish, trebble hook 1 cat.
I ran 2 jugs lines with 12 hooks each and 2 jug lines with 4 hooks each.
They only wanted liver didnt even eat the shrimp.

~gober