Ron Pickel of Elm Creek declares his favorite spot for flatheads to be the Republican River above Harlan County Reservoir. His largest last year was a 43-incher that weighed 40 pounds; it inhaled a crawler.

"I fish quite a bit with my dad, Ed, who lives in Alma," he said "Last year he caught one weighing 29 pounds on a crawdad while fishing in August. We normally use either crawlers or crawdads. We catch lots of 3- and 4-pounders. If I remember correctly, I had 15 that weighed over 12 pounds."

Pickel, 54, uses a baitcasting reel on a 9-foot rod and loads up with 20-pound-test line. "You need fairly heavy tackle fishing the river because of the snags and the current," he observed. "I like to fish the mornings best. We often start about an hour before sunrise and fish for three or four hours."

Columbus' Ron Furby fishes an engineered river -- the Loup Canal, northwest of Columbus. He catches most of his big flatheads on banklines. His largest to date has been close to 60 pounds.

"The unknowing just don't realize how tough the big flatheads are," he said. "I watch what I'm doing when I find I have a big one hooked on a bankline. I make sure I can let go of the line if he decides to head for the barn. I would hate to get tangled up in the line and have the cat pull me into the canal -- and I'm convinced they could do it!

"I do quite a bit of rod-and-reeling and catch a lot of channels as well as flatheads, but I get most of the big, yellow cats on my setlines, which I rig with 80-pound-test line. I think April, May and June are the best months for the big ones, but last year I caught one in the middle of June that measured an even 4 feet in length, and its estimated weight was about 50 pounds. My largest to date weighed 60 pounds. I caught it on the canal above Lake Babcock three years ago.

"I usually use small carp and sunfish for the flatheads on my setlines," continued Furby. "I set the bank-pole so it puts the bait out about 5 feet from the bank and no more than a foot under the surface. I hook the baitfish under the dorsal fin and fish it with no weight.

"If fishing with a rod and reel, I often use large minnows and small sunfish. They work well on the channels and smaller flatheads. I don't use any fancy tackle, so to speak. My favorite is the Zebco 33 and I load it with 12-pound-test line."

For a complete list of flathead waters, check the 2006 edition of the Nebraska Fishing Guide.