Since the few anglers who do target catfish on Pickwick are most interested in trophy blues or eating-sized channels, the sleeper within a sleeper species is flathead catfish.
Flatheads are known to be solitary creatures that lurk in the shadows by day and feed on live prey by night.
But Joey Pounders of Caledonia, who competes in the national catfish tournaments and heads up the local Mississippi Catfish Hunters trail, claims Pickwick flatheads don’t always fit the mold of other lakes.
“I go out there with six poles, and I always want to use skipjack herring because it’s the best bait, but there’s good live gizzard shad there, too,” said Pounders. “What I’ll do is fish three poles with cut bait and three poles with live bait.”
Pounders said that, unlike river flathead catfishing where the pattern is typically fishing only live baits under blowdown trees, catching Pickwick flatheads is more about finding a current break and getting the fish’s attention.
“What I like to do is fish a seam or a big piece of structure, not necessarily trees, but big rocks that create a good current break,” he said. “They love to lay behind rocks or any current break.
“You also don’t always have to use live bait. You can take that skipjack, and get a good piece of filet and hook it so it’ll spin in the current — that puts off a good vibration and puts off a lot of scent, too.”
One of the most-recognizable current breaks come at man-made structures, like dams and bridge pilings. Pounders heads to the upper reaches of Pickwick to fish these.
“Fish anywhere from right up to the Wilson dam and behind one of the three bridges downstream from Wilson dam,” he said. “The first one is maybe a mile back, the second one is another mile back and the third one is right next to the second one — a few hundred yards away.
“Behind any of those pillars out in the water and around the rocks at the dam are the best spots to find flatheads.”
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