Bait

[starcraft36]

The house I bought last year has a couple ponds and they have some decent sized gold fish in them. The other day I caught this guy tyring to catch bluegills for channel bait and it got me thinking. If you use a big golfish like this for flatties, how do you rig it and cast it without killing it?

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[Smoothkip]

I hook my big baits through the lips. Keeps em lively and can still throw them pretty good.

[hooklineandsinker]

I rig it... egg sinker to a beed to a swivel to a 6 inch peice of line to a hook of your choice I like Kahles when fishing live bait for flathead. I hook my bait in between the tail and the top fin of the bait fish (make sure you dont hook too close to the spine or you will paralize your bait fish and he will not move at all I can cast as far as needed without worry of losing the bait... Dont whip them out there, still be gentle so your hook doesnt tear through the bait during the cast.

[Smoothkip]

Good info. Do you ever have problems hooking back into the bait with those Khales? I quit using them years ago do to that. Maybe I was doing something different than others though?

[hooklineandsinker]

Kip the possibility of this happening can be lessened by making sure not hooking the bait to deeply.

[Smoothkip]

Thanks!

[ducky]

U can use as big of bait as u dare if u drop Ur baits.

[hunted]

If I a fishing on bottom I like to hook them through the mouth or from the underside between the dorsal fin and tail. That way the weight of the hook won't pull the fish over if it is hooked from the top. I like throug the lips, though, because I can cast them farther easier. Through the top if I am bobber fishing.

[luckeywade]

bottom lip,out the nose

[banksidebandit]

I agree with hunted about hooking the fish on the underside when fishing on bottom and on the top when bobber fishing. Through the lip works for both.

[starcraft36]

Thanks guys.

So it sounds like you put the hook through and back in. That mean you want the tip of the hook to be burried in the fish or exposed?

[chuckd67]

As much tip exposed as possible. I hook up through the lips. This also helps keep the fish get more water though the gills in heavy current to stay active. Theres nothing like seeing the end of your pole go nuts when your bait knows there is a big Flathead close by.

[katfish]

Starcraft

You can see there are several reponses here about hooking goldfish.

If you are fishing current rivers/creeks you want to hook them up in the nose so they will live longer.

In lakes most guys hook them between tail and dorsal fin, mostly to prevent double hooking the bait. To keep from stressing baits I use the smallest hook that will still reliably hook the flathead.

If I cast a bait it is more of a gentle lob. I don't want the bait hitting the water hard and I also know a 2 oz sinker is close behind.

Just another advantage to gently hook baits is that they can be reused. Chad had some veterans in the bait tank that had been flathead fishing 2 or 3 nights ;D