So.... I am getting pretty sick of this weather. Anyway, I have been noticing that Thursday has been the night I have been getting the most bites each week. Other nights I have been getting very few bites. I was wondering how often the flatheads are feeding this time of year. A guy told me they should be feeding every 4 days with this water temperature and weather. Let me know what you guys think. I have been slowly figuring out that "old timer" advice is either hit or miss and it is usually better for me to find out for myself.
I wouldn't listen to anything as far as them feeding every 4 days. I'm sure depending on how much they eat on one night they might only feed once every 4 days........but that would be silly to base things on. With all the fish in the lakes/rivers......you will never have an issue on how often they feed. It's a matter of being out there fishing. I would go any chance you can get. You never know when the fish will hit. At times midday no clouds 90 degrees is when they hit.
i always went by the 3 day rule, but like what rockbass said it really depends on how much they eat. It might also have to do with the fact for the last 4 weeks we have had a coldfront move through at the start of every week. But for the most part if you fish a certain stretch of river repeatedly over a couple weeks you could almost map out the bite pattern.
4 years ago Steve and I fished the same spot 3 times a week during a drought. We could tell you when the first bite would happen and when we would get the last one.
If the weather, temperature, and barometric pressure is right, I think the only reasons that a catfish would pass up an easy meal would be because they were spawning, were spooked, or were already full. I don't think they would pass up a meal very often. They are wild animals and they have an instinct to eat whenever they can because they never know when their next meal might come along. I don't so much think that they eat between a certain number of days as much as a certain number of hours.
If you doubt the advice above go to a couple of catfishing tournaments. You will find that someone will always find nice fish ,does not matter what the weather or time of day. I'm a firm believer that some where in any given body of water fish are biting.
I have got Flathead's as early as April on cloudy rainy day's in the middle of the afternoon in 15ft of water throwing live bait's for what ever bite's got a 40lb flathead 3 season's ago doing this . I have also hit walleye on bluegill's big enough to eat while trying to catch flathead's i got a 6lb walleye last year in june while fishing for flathead's in a MWCD Lake. with my buddy Matt (mbill) he was as shocked as i was when he netted it for me !!!!!!! I love to fish Flathead's and Channel cat's in the rain weater in the day time or after dark make's for a fun night as long as the rain is not to cold........ hope this help's ....Sniper
In my area flatheads have one feeding pattern, they feed heavily on days that I am not fishing...And on the days I choose to fish they feed very little if at all.
This pattern has been observed over the last 25 years, so there must be something to it.
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