Location is everything

Clinton Bardner shows off a flathead catfish, many of which will exceed 30 pounds and at times push 80 pounds.

Large flathead catfish hunker down during the day in deep holes and in undercut river banks and don’t feed much when the sun is out, but they become active during evening hours in the narrower sections of the Neuse River south and west of Kinston.

“We mainly fish at night,” said Michael Paxinos, a wildlife officer and catfish fanatic, “because flatheads spend most daylight hours under logs and undercut banks. We call where they spend daylight hours their ‘bedrooms.’

“When flatheads are feeding in the evenings and at night, you have to go where the bait is, which can be any place with shallow eddies or current breaks.”

Paxinos said one of the best ideas is to learn where and how to catch bait, especially in shallow eddies, creeks or current breaks.

“When you first start fishing, use multiple baits to figure out what they want,” he said.

The best flathead catfish fishing locations are in close proximity to one another, such as flats — aka “kitchens” — undercut banks, eddies, pinch points where small creeks enter the main river and rocky areas and near trees overhanging undercut banks.

About Craig Holt 1382 Articles
Craig Holt of Snow Camp has been an outdoor writer for almost 40 years, working for several newspapers, then serving as managing editor for North Carolina Sportsman and South Carolina Sportsman before becoming a full-time free-lancer in 2009.

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