So I've caught Flatheads before on throw lines but never targeted them with Rod and Reel and this summer I'd like to change that. I already have ideas for terminal tackle and have several good bait choices locally available, namely chubs, green sunfish and small bullheads. What I need are rod, reel and line recommendations. For context im open to either casting or spinning and I'd expect the fish to top out around 40bs...biggest I've ever seen around here is  60ish so I'm not expecting giants.

I use a 7/0 sickle hook 65 lb braid 7 ft catfish ugly stik with an Ambassador 5500 bait clicker. Bait is fresh shad , Gills or chubs when I can get them . I really like the 7/0 On bigger baits I just hook it thinner. I don’t use circle hooks cause a lot of time if there in cover they can’t turn .

I use Okuma BattleCat rods and similar round reels to the above. 50 lb Academy braid to a swivel, with a sliding clip above that. 24-30 inch 20 lb CXX leader to an 8/0 circle with a float about 8 inches from the bait. Cover or rockpikes on points with some current has always been my magic combo for flatties.

Catfishing is really good here, so much so that there are a few successful YouTubers that only fish catfish. They even do bait comparison videos. Flatheads are widely considered the most piscivorous (they even taught us that in college). Therefore you would imagine live bait is best but in their videos, cut skipjack always gets the big flatheads over live bait. They catch way better cats than me 

He’s right you know…

Virtually all of my flatheads have been on white perch filets not live bait. Except for one I caught on chicken. If you put filets down with a float they float around and give off scent and look enough like a fish that they’ll eat it. Live bait can be troublesome near cover.

I have an Abu garcia 6600 c4 but I wasn't sure if it had the power to stop a 35-40lb fish if it went for a brushpile. I was gonna step up to a 7000 but maybe that's overkill. 

You can’t stop them, you only hope to contain them.

Think I'm gonna pick up a whisker seeker hog seeker rod and throw some 65lb power pro on my Garcia 6600 and see how that works.

Also considering a BPS graphite musky rod or an Ugly Stik tiger rod instead of the hog seeker.

 

Flatheads don't fight like big blues. They're not going to sit on the bottom and pull forever. Flatheads are more of an intense fight than an endurance fighter. You're going to need the gear to stop their first few dogging runs and keep them away from whatever cover is around, then they're usually done fairly quickly. It doesn't have to be a meat stick to stop them, just something with a good bend but plenty of backbone also. The Berkley catfish rods work well without spending a lot of money. The Abu 6500/6600 reels have accounted for countless flatheads of all sizes. I like 65-80lb braid to a mono leader with a sinker slide. I also like the Kahle style hook, 7/0 seems to be the sweet spot for flatheads. Circle hooks work, but I miss a lot of flatheads on circle hooks with rod and reel. 

 

I use to be a 100%, it has to be a live fish when I'm targeting flatheads. The last few years, I've gone more and more to being a believer that for flatheads, especially the big ones, fresh cut bait is better a majority of the time. I can't tell how many trips I've fussed with live bait, just for it to sit untouched while the fish eat the cut bait instead. The gar truely seem to appreciate my efforts though. 

Cutbait flatheads from the last two years.

Versus the one lonely flathead that ate a green sunfish and will keep me fussing with live bait, just in case.

Ended up going with a 7ft medhvy ugly stik tiger, an Abu Garcia 7000 and 40lb big game.

Now I'm having these same thoughts after fighting My surprise big one on a veritas MH/f rod. That was a challenge, definitely needed a different rod. It did the trick in the end, but yikes. I think I'm going to catfish all summer from bank so I'm looking to pick up some budget catfish gear now.