My Flathead

[Arthur12]

I kept a Flathead in my 225gl for a couple years (2011-2013). They way may tank was built, it had the overflow boxes in the middle of the side. Meaning there were skinny but tall "caves" in all 4 corners of the aquarium. He would spend most of his time in the caves facing the surface. I trained him to hand feed large thawed shrimp. All I had to do was make some surface agitation and he would swim to the surface and inhale. When the lights went off, thats when the real action started, I could hear "thumps" and he was out hunting my large Sunfish (6-9"), they would not fit in his mouth, but I know he tried because some would have bite marks. Everything smaller he had already eaten, there is no telling how many small fish he ate, I just kept replacing them. LOL. I had a couple Jumbo sized bluegills at the time and he never messed with them. I eventually let him go, I was worried his violent attacks and head shakes were going to crack the glass. He was fun. He grew fast, typical of apex predators. Wish I had more pictures but they seem to all have disappeared but this one.

Anyone else keep Yellows? I would like to give it another try this year. Only problem is my overflow boxes make great ambush hides, but terrible for seeing (back left and back right of tank the fish is completely out of view blocked by overflow) the fish so I need to figure something out.

Rare picture of him out of the "front left hiding corner" when the lights were on. He was a pretty catfish

 

[elting44]

I have never had the space for them, I would imagine they would outgrow a 225 pretty quickly. Would be neat though

I wouldn't think there would be any harm in keeping one and then releasing it back into the same body of water it was harvested from, so long as it was a strictly native tank it was kept in, but I would certainly check with your local game and parks office to check on the legality. A keep in mind if the body of water has a minimum length limit for flathead, keeping a smaller one would be unlawful.

On a side note....

Did you catch the fish in your avatar? Is it an orange spotted sunfish or is it a pumpkinseed? Where was it caught?

I am in the process of setting up a 135g native tank with the idea of catching the residents myself on ultralight tackle. I would love orange spotted sunfish in there with some bluegill and a couple bullheads. I want to avoid green sunfish as I hear they are pretty aggro

 

[Chub_by]

Very nice, I don't understand at all how these aren't kept by more people.
Myself I've been looking for one since I got my pond which has been several years but they just aren't in Europe

 

[piranhaman00]

Very nice, I don't understand at all how these aren't kept by more people.
Myself I've been looking for one since I got my pond which has been several years but they just aren't in Europe

Well its because they become to massive for any home aquarium. I had one in a 180 for a while, awesome fish.

 

[elting44]

Well its because they become to massive for any home aquarium. I had one in a 180 for a while, awesome fish.

Yeah, look skerzfan 's avatar, that one was 26 lbs and isn't considered very large by Flathead standards

Besides, people with the tankage required typically prefer more striking looking cats, like Red Tails and Tiger Shovelnose.

 

[Arthur12]

I have never had the space for them, I would imagine they would outgrow a 225 pretty quickly. Would be neat though

I wouldn't think there would be any harm in keeping one and then releasing it back into the same body of water it was harvested from, so long as it was a strictly native tank it was kept in, but I would certainly check with your local game and parks office to check on the legality. A keep in mind if the body of water has a minimum length limit for flathead, keeping a smaller one would be unlawful.

On a side note....

Did you catch the fish in your avatar? Is it an orange spotted sunfish or is it a pumpkinseed? Where was it caught?

I am in the process of setting up a 135g native tank with the idea of catching the residents myself on ultralight tackle. I would love orange spotted sunfish in there with some bluegill and a couple bullheads. I want to avoid green sunfish as I hear they are pretty aggro

Appreciate the reply! I never let fish go on public water. This fish now lives in a ranch tank eating stunted Largemouth, and to your point, in Texas, there are no size limits for catching gamefish in private water.

I did catch my avatar photo, its a Western Longear from North TX. This is a different strain than the ones North of me. They are ubiquitous around these parts, but can vary greatly in appearance depending on what water body you catch them in. I really like the strain from that creek. Orangespots are beautiful fish but stay small, I've caught hundreds and the biggest was a 4.5", most around 3", so they stay in the 175 with various minnows and other small Sunfish. Greens are bullies, you are right about that but also striking and worth keeping IMO, I have one right now in my 225, there are a dozen other Sunfish types (Warmouth, Redspot, Rio Cichlid, Redbreast, Western Longear, White River Longear, Spotted Bass, FL Gar and a couple Hybrid Sunfish) in there so he doesn't have time to target and pick on one single fish. Plus he isn't the biggest.
Here is the Green.

Here is a pic of an Orangespot in my 175.

 

[J. H.]

I wish we had such exciting fish here in NY. All I've ever caught are bluegills, pumpkinseeds, brown trout, some other kind of shinier trout, 2 types of bullhead, channelcat, shad, goldfish, carp, and assorted brown minnows (maybe I left something out)
You guys out west and down south have so many kinds of sunfish, pike, catfish, minnows and darters, in all different colors, you are very lucky.

 

[elting44]

That's great man, gl with getting another yellow cat.

I can't wait for spring so I can go to some creeks and try to catch some Orange Spots. There are a couple of spots that I have scouted and a survey from 1997 says the Orange spotted are as numerous at greens there. I've personally never caught one but I have always been just north of their distribution.

 

[Deadliestviper7]

Nice flatty,a underapreciated species in my opinion, but what exactly do u mean by ranch tank? U mean a stock tank or a watering pond?

 

[Arthur12]

Yes, Stock Tank/Farm Pond/Private Water. In this case about 7acres with lots of stunted fish. He should do well.

Found a pic showing my Flatty in his normal position when the lights are on. I could hand feed him thawed Jumbo Shrimp by shaking them on the surface. He would come right up and take it from my hand. Man he was fun, just didn't play nice with the others when the lights went off.