Running trotlines around structure like sunken logs and hills around the channel can be highly productive. for big flathead (yellow, opelousas) catfish.
The best live bait by far for this method is live bullheads (mud cats, pollywogs).
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 trotliner Lewis Hogan.
“Perch is good bait, but little mud cats are great bait and there is no comparison in the success rate. You will definitely catch more and bigger flatheads on mud cats,” Hogan said.
(Photo courtesy U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)