ok some people say  when they fish for flattys the hardley use light and are like deer hunter quiet  and some of you crash your boat right on top of em  in structure is there differnt times of the year one is better than the other?????????????????

I will tell you that lights definately frighten flathead.
I have actually used spotlights to steer hooked
flathead away from brush while my partner
fought them.

You do not have to just blindly believe me though.
The next time you hook a big flathead, reel it up
close and put a light on it just before you intend
to net it. The flatheads reaction to the light should
convince you if it is afraid of lights or not. ::

Actually I have selected flathead spots across
a bay from a group of catmen using lanterns
and making quite a bit of noise. Any flathead
feeding moved away from their bank and to
mine  :shock:

I could definately tell if their group caught a
channel cat because the excitement and noise
level went up. Although they didn't catch a
 flathead I caught several. My conclusion was
that the flathead seemed to be acting more
natural on my side. It could be that for several
 nights none of the the loud bunch got "lucky"
 and I got "lucky" pretty consistently.

The best way to find what works best where
you fish is to keep trying things till you get
good results. Pattern the fish and once you
 understand enough of the puzzle you will catch fish.

As far as how close you must fish to structure, this
depends on the mood of the fish.  The more active
 the fish are, the farther you can set your baits from
 structure. Mike found out last year that if you put
a bait too close to an innactive flathead he
will attack it. I haven't found a way to determine
how active fish are other than by fishing.

Flathead are very frustrating because even proven
methods go through periods when the fish don't
 cooperate.

I agree with Robby and I think it is safe to say that Flatheads have never read any of the Books or articules wrote about them so they will do something different at any given moment just to keep you on your toes  [smilie=a_holyshit.gif]  :damnfunny  :damnfunny  :damnfunny

I can speak from experience on this one. For years i fished like the guys in Robbys post. Lots of noise and lanterns that would light up the whole river bank. I very seldom caught a flatty but always caught small channels. The last couple of years the only light i take with me is a flashlight in case i need to tie a new hook on. I don't like shining the light out where i am fishing either. Have caught alot more flatties and bigger channels since i have done this. Hope these posts have answered your question! :smile:

kris i used to be the same way..... now things are a whole different ball game.....

Yep---Robby pretty well sumed it up,,,quiet and dark will lead to bigger and better fish---it wont help your patience one bit thou lol.  I personally think the bite is a little better a few weeks after the spawn going into the fall, then the spring prespawn bite.

I never shine lights out of my boat
unless the flat needs some steering.
For baiting up I have a red light that I
can switch on and off. I always sit with
no boat lights either. The dark stretches
I prefer have no light on any night and
I'm not gonna add any. If you are
after smaller fish, by all means shine
your lights and build your fire high.
I don't catch small fish unless I picked
the wrong area. But I know I won't
catch large fish if I have a floating
amusement park as my base. It was
just trial and error.