Flathead catfish are native to the US and although they were initially brought in from the Mississippi and other confluent rivers, their popularity was soon nation-wide. They were used both as game fish and for food. If you're looking to go flathead catfishing, you should know that they are usually in slow flowing streams and rivers as well as ponds, especially those that have objects like logs and rocks under which they can hide.

Flathead catfish are a little different from ordinary catfish - they have flattened heads and their eyes are flat or oval shaped, with a lower jaw that protrudes past the upper jaw. You'll find them in shades of mottled browns and yellows and they can grow really big - some people have reported catching some that weighed in at over 100 pounds.

Once hatched from their spawn, they tend to grow fast. They mature at between 15-19 inches and have long life spans; in their natural environment, they can live for 25 or so years and they will be growing throughout.

Unlike regular flatfish which are more or less scavengers, flathead catfish prefer to eat fish. They like bream, perch and sunfish especially when they are not in their native environments. They will eat so much that they can destroy populations of these kinds of fish. In Georgia, some of the smaller rivers have no redbreast sunfish which were eaten up when flathead catfish were introduced.

Unlike typical flatfish, they feed by sight more than by smell and they will be seen feeding in the day as well as in the night. If you're going flathead catfishing, you can actually use light as a lure - they will come towards light and then they will take your bait.

The best places to find them are in deep holes that have some sort of covered and that are usually located near river bends. If a tree stump is partly in the water, or a rock, these are the perfect places to go flathead catfishing. You'll need to cast around edges, aiming your bait so that it can drift into their hiding places. Sometimes you'll find that the waters in outside bends are too swift to catch anything - go to where there is an inward bend as currents are weaker there.

If you're fishing in large lakes and reservoirs, you should be looking in the areas with lots of cover as the flatfish are most likely hiding there. They travel creeks and channels too and emerge to feed at shallow places, so this is another place you can go flathead catfishing. You will see them arrive if you position yourself well enough.

The best time to go flathead catfishing is early mornings and late evenings. In summer, go after dark and go with a light. Although you can bait just aw well in the day, you will be able to bait much faster at those times.

Study the body of water from where you are fishing -they like to forage off the bottom so you need a pretty long and strong chord for your rod. Remember that they are large fish too, so have your feet firmly planted in the ground.