TX best catfish lakes pt. 3: Toledo Bend

(This is the third installment in our series on Texas’ best catfish lakes.)

Toledo Bend is an excellent place to catch big flatheads, especially in two key locations, the extreme northern and southern parts of the reservoir.

The northern area around Logansport, La. Is characterized by humps and ridges on the main lake. During summer, shad and perch gather around these humps and ridges in large numbers.

Anglers wanting to catch flatheads on rod and reel should consider drifting around this structure with live perch.

Using electronics with this technique by helping you find the schools of baitfish. Once you find a big school, throw out a marker buoy, so you can make sure and set up your drift to go through there or use your trolling motor.

Another spot to try on the north end are some of the artesian wells you can find on calm days or if you’re lucky, have marked with your GPS. These spots are magnets for all kinds of fish and cats are no different. To find them, look for a steady stream of bubbles coming to the surface.

On the south end, the deep, open water in the ½ mile of old river channel near the spillway can be a great spot to catch flatheads, especially for trotlines.

Running trotlines around structure like sunken logs and hills around the channel can be highly productive. The best live bait by far for this method is live bullheads (mud cats).

Flatheads do not mind eating their close cousins and anglers sometimes find small flatheads on their lines that have been basically skinned out by larger flatheads trying to eat them.

Bullheads between six and 12 inches are indispensable bait according to most trotliners and can be caught easily on hook and line.