I've been doing alot of reading lately and I've read a few studies that are interesting. It seems that maybe we have a misconception of catfish and how they work. To be more exact, flathead catfish have been misjudged. Fishermen have long talked about theories, and depending on the major source of its time, these myths have taken hold. Let's jump into them and see whats real and whats false.

Flathead catfish have been labeled as selective eaters. People tell me all the time that they prefer bream and will only take a bream when you are fishing for them. I am generally kind with my response and tell them that they should do whatever they find the most confidence in. But government studies suggest something different. In the studies that were done in the early 1980 and thorough out the 90s, flathead catfish were studied for their feeding preference and timing. The biggest thing that was shown was that flathead catfish are opportunistic and will eat anything that comes in their path. They would check the contents of the catfish's belly every few hours. What did they find? Bream, shad, crawfish, and everything else with no preference. Well the only preference that they found was to Bullhead Catfish. For some reason, these poor little catfish live in the same areas as flatheads and make an easy snack.

They also found that flathead catfish would feed throughout the say with in preference to time. I found this unusual since it is hard to catch catfish during certain periods. Maybe they do feed all day but they can see better during the day and see the hook which keeps them from biting. This does put a snag on that thought that yellow cats only eat at night. I won't to see more about this in the future.The study did confirm where catfish are typically found, in shallow woody water. But the study stated that Bigger Flathead Catfish move deeper when they become active at night. This blew my mind. How many of you guys have seen this happen? I'd like to see more on this study to see how often and what type of water they were fishing.

The government research is a great way for us to learn more about these fish. If we use empirical data with the knowledge that we already have, we can develop confidence in what does work and rid ourselves of methods that don't. If you want to find more about methods to catch catfish, you should visit my website that is listed in the Bio Below.