baby flatheads

[rcbbracing]

I have noticed I personally see far more baby flats come out of rivers rather than lakes...in lakes I have only ever seen one come out less than fifteen lbs but seen many in rivers...any guesses as to why this is? I always wondered if reproduction in lakes wasn't as productive or if the larger water volume caused less to be seen...anyone have any theories?

[Seanstone]

I agree that rivers produce more and smaller flatheads in most cases. In an in-fisherman publication it was stated that the next world record flathead would come out of a lake. I'm not sure of their justifications, but they believe that flatheads grow larger in lakes. It might be that lakes have less current and therefore the fish don't have to expend a lot of energy to find food. This fact coupled with the fact that lakes seem to have higher numbers of fish in general would support their theory. It might be that baby flatheads all falling prey to the larger flathead in the lakes because they favor the same living conditions as the larger flatheads. Only speculation though. We have found that rivers and streams produce way more fish under 5lbs than lakes, only catching a half dozen or so from lakes under 5lbs. I wish we only caught 15+pounders out of lakes. lol